Board Votes To Add Holidays For Employees

Bourbon board members voted Oct. 17 to add two federal holidays as paid vacation days.

Ward 2 Alderman Mike Summers motioned to make Presidents' Day and Columbus Day paid days off for city employees, nearly seven years after a contentious board meeting stripped those days off the calendar.

Ward 2 Alderman Mary Heywood seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

In 2010, former aldermen Bob Gargus and Stanley Bell voted to adopt several changes to the employee handbook, which included removing Presidents' Day and Columbus Day as paid holidays, along with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Good Friday.

Gargus and Bell also wanted employees to work a full day on Christmas Eve, but changed course and voted to reduce sick leave from 40 hours to 16 hours in exchange.

Some of the other changes included employees working five years before receiving 80 hours of vacation. Employees who had worked 10 years had their vacation reduced from 160 hours to 120 hours.

The changes were not grandfathered in.

Neighborhood Watch

Summers announced that a neighborhood watch had been created in his ward and requested signs. Summers said Friday crime hasn't been an issue, but residents are being proactive.

Ordinance Passes

Board members passed an ordinance that restricted parking in the area of Bernice Street and Starhawk Drive to residential-only. Resident Michael Phillips told the board in September that drivers park in front of his residence after school. Police Chief Paul Satterfield endorsed the change and told the board he believed signs would alleviate the problem.

ATV Tags

Bourbon residents who want to operate their ATV or UTV on city streets can apply for a tag at city hall. Residents must fill out an application and pay a fee.