Swanton bid for 5 vacation weeks dies

9/4/2003

SWANTON - Village employees appear unlikely to get more days of paid vacation.

The council last week let die for lack of a second motion council member Pamela Moore's request to increase paid vacation to five weeks for employees with more than 25 years' service.

Four of the village's 30 full-time employees have more than 25 years' service this year; next year there will be six. The cost for an extra week's paid vacation for those six employees, would have been about $4,000, Village Administrator Jon Gochenour said.

Councilmen Scott Haselman, Bob Gill, and William Belinger opposed Mrs. Moore's motion, saying employees get enough paid vacation. Vacation tops out at four weeks, which employees receive after 15 years of service.

Also last week, the council approved Roger DeGood as Mayor Tandy Grubbs' appointment to the village planning commission. Mr. DeGood's term expires Dec. 31.

It had been held by Dick Perkins, who resigned July 28. Because he is a developer, Mr. Perkins had abstained on many votes, which had the potential to leave the five-member board dead-locked or without a quorum.

Mayor Grubbs said he chose Mr. DeGood, a project manager at SSOE Inc., for his architectural knowledge.

Three others applied for the position: John Syx, the village's former administrator; Janet Buck, a registered nurse; and Paul Dzyak.