City Council hears street construction update

HARTINGTON — Hartington City Council members got an update Monday on street repairs being done here.

The South Broadway project is nearly complete. New sewer outlets have been installed, and a portion of the street has been raised in and effort to better control drainage. Cement has been poured for the street and curbs have been installed. The street could be reopened by the end of this week, Mayor Mark Becker said.

The work on North Madison has, however, been slowed a bit. Both projects are way ahead of schedule, though Becker said. The bid called for the work to be completed in October, but it appears it will be be done much sooner than that, Becker said.

Monday's meeting also featured a discussion about which holidays the city will officially observe and when new employees begin to accrue vacation time.

The city now observes the same paid holidays as the County.

The Council also began a review of employee vacation and sick leave policy.

Currently, city employees get a week of vacation after they have been on the job for a year.

Becker said in today's competitive job market, those policies might have to change.

"When you try to hire somebody and you tell them they don’t get a day off until after you’ve been here a year, I think that’s a problem. We are in a competitive job market we need to make sure we are competitive," he said.

Becker asked the Council to table any proposed changes to the employee policy until more study can be done.

"Maybe our current policies are a bit out-dated," Mayor Becker said. "Maybe we will need to update them."

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