During a meeting in which three council members were absent, Mayor Derek Merrin squeezed out support for his proposal to reduce the number of paid sick days for village employees, a vote critical to his ongoing efforts to trim Waterville's operating expenses.

Effective 30 days from last week's session, village workers will be allowed up to 10 days of paid sick time annually, down from the current 18.

A reduction in sick days could cut village spending on overtime, especially in the police department.

Mr. Merrin said 18 paid sick days was too generous for taxpayers to provide, noting that overtime costs were more than $30,000 to cover shifts when police officers called off sick last year.

The average number of sick days taken last year was 14.6.

Mr. Merrin noted that some workers have banked nearly 3,000 hours of sick time, and they could call in sick for well over a year and get paid.

Overall, village employees have accrued 36,447 hours, or 18 years, of sick time, said Councilman Jeff Marty.

He said the real intention of sick time is to pay workers so that they can afford to pay bills when they are sick.

However, he said, when employees make a point of banking sick time, it amounts to a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," and that "cost to the community is enormous."

Absent during the meeting were council members Ann Cherry, Tim Guzman, and Mike Metzger.

James Bagdonas, municipal administrator, said sick-leave time that can be cashed in, such as when a village worker retires, is capped.

The amount is 960 hours for those hired before 1983, and 240 hours for those hired after that year.

Mayor Merrin said he has a big problem with someone being allowed to cash in 960 hours of sick time, which for someone making $30 an hour would amount to $29,000.

The mayor's motion to reduce sick time days was approved on a 3-1 vote with Councilman John Gouttiere opposed and the mayor, Mr. Marty, and Jim Valtin in favor.

Later, the mayor's motion to have sick time paid out at the rate effective when sick time is accrued was defeated in a 2-2 tie with Mr. Gouttiere and Mr. Valtin opposed and the mayor and Mr. Marty in favor.

Mr. Marty made a motion to cap accrued sick time at 3,000 hours for current employees and 1,000 hours for future employees, but it was defeated by the same 2-2 split vote.

Waterville's biggest general-fund cost is salaries and benefits, and these are estimated at nearly $2.64 million for its 30 employees in 2011.

Employees have a range of three to five weeks a year of vacation time that can be taken if they run short on sick days, the mayor said, noting that 10 days a year is a reasonable amount even though employees would like 18.

Councilman Gouttiere contended sick days should be considered part of the village's efforts to review overall compensation.

Council recently voted to pay Clemans-Nelson & Associates $5,700 to update a 2005 survey it conducted for Waterville, comparing the village's wages and benefits to those of 17 similar communities.

Officials are continuing to review village expenses and possible ways to reduce them, such as trimming health-insurance costs.

Mr. Gouttiere, who said it was premature to take action now, said it didn't matter what other communities or the private sector offer to employees for sick days; instead, it matters how the numbers fit Waterville.

Councilman Valtin agreed that 18 days was excessive and said he would support reducing the number to 10.

In other business, council accepted the donation of about $18,000 worth of equipment from the Waterville Fire Association, including a rescue saw, a thermal-imaging camera, a 14-foot boat, and 14 safety vests.

Mayor Merrin described the items as assets that will be beneficial to the fire department's operations and to the community.

He said the volunteer firefighters, who raised funds for the items, "deserve our thanks."

Also during the session, Waterville resident Karla Snyder, who said she was speaking on behalf of several people in the audience, asked council to repeal an ordinance that limits to three the number of children allowed at a home day care business.

The issue surfaced after Councilman Cherry reported that she had more than one complaint about traffic at a home on Cherry Lane where a day care for as many as five children is operated.

Zoning inspector Jerry Hannewald wrote in a report on the matter that the maximum number of children allowed by Waterville code is three, and he stated that he was unable to answer the mayor's questions on why the village set a limit that is lower than the state's or county's.

The spokesman for the group said she hopes the issue is resolved quickly and said there is a tremendous need for home-based child care.

Pam Plassman, operator of the day care in question, attended the meeting but did not make any public comments.

Council referred the matter to the planning commission for review and recommendation back to council on whether the ordinance should be changed.

Mayor Merrin said he thinks a limit is needed, but said three seems too restrictive.

He resolving the matter could take a few weeks.

Officials said that in the meantime, the village won't aggressively enforce the ordinance.

In other action, council voted 4-0 to make improvements to the Conrad Park recreation building.

The village's application for a Nature Works grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for improvements to the building has been approved in the amount of $27,645.

The Dotson Company was awarded the contract for improvements in the amount of $25,650. Overall cost is $36,000, with the village's share at $9,000.

First Published March 9, 2011, 4:04 a.m.