Police starting salary raised — With Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure having trouble hiring officers, town commissioners in August agreed to hike the annual salary for new hires to $75,000.
Town Manager Michelle Heiser said the decision had immediate impacts. The $5,000-a-year pay raise allowed the town to hire an officer who had been considering going to a nearby agency where she could have earned $77,000 annually.
“I hate the idea of losing great candidates,” Heiser said on Aug. 3 when she urged town commissioners to increase the salary to make Ocean Ridge competitive with its neighbors.
When the new hire begins work Oct. 1, the 24-person agency will be at full strength, she said.
Another officer, who started work in May, will get a $5,000 boost when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Extra money will be added to next year’s proposed $11 million operating budget to cover the increased pay for future new hires.
The move is important because the town will be negotiating a new contract with the Police Benevolent Association next year, Heiser said. “I’d like the PBA members to see the goodwill we have and that we really want to invest in them.”
Bereavement leave — The swearing in of newly appointed Ocean Ridge Town Commissioner Lanette Bosch Gustafson was postponed for a month in August because her mother died.
In a letter read by Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy, Gustafson said she regretted missing what was to be her first commission meeting, but that she had to travel to Iowa to be with her family.
The commission unanimously selected Gustafson in July to replace Commissioner David Hutchins, who died in May at age 78. She is now to be sworn in on Sept. 14.
“It is a tremendous honor to serve this community and I look forward to joining my fellow commissioners to officially participate in the September meeting,” Gustafson wrote.
No watering fake grass — To promote water conservation, Ocean Ridge is adopting new rules designed to stop homeowners from irrigating artificial turf.
Those who install synthetic grass surrounding homes that are on less than an acre of land will be required to remove all irrigation heads and cap the water pipes, according to a measure the Town Commission gave preliminary approval to on Aug. 3.
The new rules, created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will take effect immediately if the ordinance is approved by the commission on Sept. 14.
— Jane Musgrave
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