Warrensburg Council Approves Pool Management Salary Increase

The Warrensburg City Council approved a salary increase proposal on Monday night from Danielle Fesler, director of Parks & Rec.

The Parks and Recreation Department currently contracts out the pool management services to Midwest Pool Management (MPM). MPM manages both the indoor pool at the Community Center and the outdoor pool, Nassif Aquatic Center.

MPM is responsible for hiring, training and supervising staff, conducting safety audits, managing the water chemistry, daily cleaning, and keeping the pool safe for all patrons. They have been managing the pool for the past 10 years, it was noted.

The minimum wage increase will impact the salary schedule that was initially provided to Parks & Rec from MPM. The minimum wage in 2018 was $7.85 and was increased on Jan. 1, 2019 to $8.60.

From 2020-2023, it will increase 85 cents each year until it reaches $12.00 per hour. This is a 9.55 percent increase in 2019 and 9.88 percent increase in 2020, which were not accounted for in the salary proposal. Their contract year runs from April 1 to March 31.

This salary increase will have an impact of $9,556 for 2019 and $21,1154 for 2020, Fesler said.

“We typically receive a refund at the end of the contract year for the portion of the salary fee that was not used,” she said. “The estimated refund this for 2018 – 2019 is $4,784.68.

“This will help offset the increase for the remainder of this fiscal year. Taking the refund into account, we should see a minimal increase for the remainder of the fiscal year, depending on our staffing needs at the pool,” Fesler explained.

However, “the biggest impact will be in years to come,' she said, “with an almost $27,000 increase from 2018 to 2020.