Civil Service Commission
Civil Service Commission
Meeting Minutes
February 4, 2008
David Sanders, Chairperson Andrew Keiser, Vice Chairperson Michael Kessler, Secretary
4:00 PM Borough Office Building
COMMISSION MEMBERS:
Present: Dave Sanders, Mike Kessler, Andy Keyser
Others in attendance: John Butterfield, Dick Peterson, and John Lawver
QUORUM PRESENT: Yes
PROCEEDINGS: Meeting called to order at 4:05 PM by chair, David Sanders.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Approved 01/08/2008 Minutes
The Commission received a letter from John D. Lawver, Borough Manager, William E. Troxel, Mayor, and Joseph F. Docherty, Chief of Police. The letter outlined some changes to our Rules and Regulations that they felt may benefit the Civil Service Commission with future proceedings.
Their recommendations included changing Section 3.4 to read: "All entry level applicants must have reached their (21st) birthday before the deadline for submitting applications." This would eliminate the 45 year old age restriction.
Section 5.7: Provisional Appointments - This section states in part, "It shall thereupon become the duty of the Commission within six (6) weeks to hold a competitive examination and certify a list……" It has been determined that this time frame is impossible. Due to the many procedures and steps necessary, it was recommended that we lengthen this to six (6) months.
These changes had been discussed at a previous meeting. Mike Kessler made a motion to recommend these changes to Council. The motion was 2nd by Andy Keiser. All three Commission members voted for the changes.
Mike Kessler made a motion to keep the same Commission officers as last year. The motion was 2nd by Andy Keiser. All three members voted in favor of the motion.
Mr. Butterfield was in attendance as our liaison with Borough Council. Dick Peterson and John Butterfield explained some of the procedures and steps needed for us to carry out our duties and how to get information to the proper committee in a timely matter.
More discussion took place concerning future advertising for applicants. Andy Keiser will be checking on internet sites and Chief Docherty had previously given us some possible sites that he knew about. Due to the low number of applicants John Lawver suggested possible advertising outside Adams County, possibly in the York and Harrisburg areas.
We also discussed a time frame for future hiring. The Commission would like to have the approved changes in place before any advertising takes place. A letters will be drafted and sent to Mr. Lawver by the end of the week to get the approval process started.
John Lawver also discussed Act 120 certification. He explained why the rules read that applicants need to be certified or certifiable. This was mainly a cost saving issue. If applicants are already certified the Borough will not incur any cost to get a new officer certified. There was no recommendation for any changes at the present time, but we may be able to get more applicants if certification is not required.
Meeting adjourned at 4:42 PM.
Minutes submitted by Secretary, Michael Kessler