Police Staffing Woes and Sanitation Price Increase

Commercial sanitation customers in the City of Willow Springs will see a 10% increase in their bills as of June 1. In their regular meeting on May 19, the Willow Springs Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve the increase. An increase to residential customers in the amount of $1.50 per household will also take effect in June, but the city will absorb that cost instead of passing it on to utility customers. 

Rick Duggar approached the Board to request a price increase, citing his own increased fuel and operating costs. Duggar is the owner of the city's sanitation provider, Duggar Trash Service. 

Thursday's meeting was also the final meeting for retiring Police Chief Bryan Hogan in his official capacity as city marshal. Mayor Pro Tem Kim Rich presented Hogan with a plaque in recognition of his 31 years of law enforcement service in Willow Springs and elsewhere.   

Incoming Police Chief Wes Ellison addressed the council about longstanding challenges to employee retention in the department. 

"I'm coming to you for help with answers," Chief Ellison said. 

His department is slated for eight full-time officers, but the department currently employs four full-time officers including Ellison himself, as well as a few part-time and reserve officers.  

The department has struggled to retain new officers, frequently losing them to neighboring agencies where the pay and benefits seem more attractive, Ellison said. He pointed to recent tax increases in the surrounding area that have made it possible for other agencies to offer a higher rate of pay. 

City Administrator Beverly Hicks pushed back on the idea that repeated wage increases are a long-term solution. 

"Wages are not going to solve everything," Hicks said. 

Raising wages and increasing benefits for police officers would not be fair to other employees of the city, Hicks said. Currently, police officers are paid on a sliding scale of pay unique to the police department, but receive the same health and leave benefits as all municipal employees. 

Additional benefits, such as funding the cost of police academy for interested applicants, were Ellison's main suggestion to attract new officers to Willow Springs. 

"Right now, we have no applicants," he said. 

Aldermen David Collins and Kim Rich volunteered to form a committee to work with Ellison on finding a solution and will report back at the June meeting. 

Additional information heard by the council included:

*The city administrator presented a report on the effects of inflation and supply chain disruptions on the municipal budget. Hicks said budget amendments will be up for discussion in the coming months. An increase in utility rates may also be necessary.

*The City of Willow Springs now owns the MoDOT buildings located on Old Springfield Rd., and plans are in place to split the parcel into two properties to allow the Willow Springs R-IV School District to take ownership of the south building to launch a CTE program. 

*Main Street Willow Springs gave an update on the problem property they own. See the full update on the front page of this edition.

*Mayor Brooke Fair's absence prompted the emergency appointment of a Mayor Pro Tem at Thursday's meeting. The Board of Aldermen nominated and unanimously ratified Kim Rich as Mayor Pro Tem.