Two residents questioned Coplay Borough Council Tuesday night over whether changes will be made to the position of director of public works.

Last month, council voted unanimously to advertise for a new public works director. Dan Pavelko, who currently holds the position, will continue to serve until a replacement is found and then will become a member of the work crew.

North Ruch Street resident Sharon Meischeid asked if Pavelko performs all the duties listed in the ad for the new person. According to Meischeid, the ad says the borough seeks someone for "electrical work, plumbing, water treatment, taking care of the furnace and mechanical repairs."

"All the things listed there are not all inclusive of what I, personally, would be looking for," said Councilman Charles Sodl.

"If the job description is going to change, then the salary should be reviewed," Meischeid said.

"My concern is if these requirements are not listed in the job description in the newspaper, does that mean the salary will then be less than the budgeted $51,000?" Meischeid asked.

"The salary should be based on qualifications and a resume that person has," Sodl said.

Meischeid asked if the borough intended to outsource any of the work items in the ad.

Sodl said the borough did not plan to outsource but would consider it if it would mean a cost savings.

"The idea will be to save the taxpayers money, not spend more money," he said.

"We were very satisfied with the work ethic of that individual that was in that position. We had a little bit of trouble with the management of the five other people," Sodl said.

If an employee is not comfortable in his position, it is the borough's responsibility to find someone else, he said.

Meischeid said it is the borough's responsibility to offer training and asked whether the public works director to be replaced had received any management training.

"The training has not been done and that's one of the things that we've talked about that we need to do," Sodl said.

Saying he didn't want to get into conversations had with employees or personnel issues because it's not fair, Sodl added, "We asked things to be done and sometimes they aren't getting done. So, in fairness to those employees, do we have enough employees? … Or conversely, do we have too many?"

Meischeid asked if employees each had copies of employee handbooks so they knew their rights and responsibilities.

Council members said yes. Secretary-Treasurer Sandra Gyecsek said the employees also signed a statement saying they had the handbooks.

Meischeid asked what the borough's policies regarding privacy in cases of termination or demotion are.

Sodl said the policies are available in the borough office.

North Ruch resident Dan Smith asked whether the public works director position was salary or hourly.

Saying the director gets overtime, Sodl said he would consider the position hourly.

"I worked in industrial maintenance and every supervisor I ever had was salary," said Smith. "That's another thing to look at, too."

Smith said in an emergency, it would not cost the borough additional money if a salaried supervisor was on the job.

Smith also said the borough should think very carefully about outsourcing any of the public works crew's jobs because, in his experience in industry, it will cost significantly more.

"It is definitely more expensive for the company to [outsource]," he said.

"We never said we're going to outsource," said council President Lou Bodish.

"The borough here, the employees, they do more than pick up the garbage fix a pot hole once in awhile and cut grass," Sodl said.

Smith said the borough should rewrite the ad and rerun it and maybe it will get a better candidate.

"I think it was a limited ad to begin with," Smith said. If the borough reran a better ad, it might get better candidates.

Pavelko did not attend the meeting. Several members of the public works crew did but did not speak.

After the meeting, council had an executive session for personnel lasting more than an hour. No action was taken following the executive session.