Mayor Debra Cotterill presided over her first city commission meeting Thursday as commissioners considered a variety of issues ranging from personnel to salt bids.

Changes to the city’s personnel manual were reviewed. The manual was compiled and updated by Human Resources Director Rhonda Rose, City Manager Matt Wallingford said.

“It hasn’t been easy,” he said, explaining that personnel policies in the past had been “piecemeal,” meaning Rose had to not search in some cases to find policies.

Major changes include language which needed to be updated and compliance to met federal laws. Also, changes in how promotions are handled, particularly within police and fire departments, are part of the manual. The new policy will eliminate the point system for police and the requirement that open positions be advertised in the local newspaper, although advertising will not be prohibited, according to City Attorney Kelly Caudill.

Several suggestions on the manual came from Cotterill including wording concerning holidays and essential services, a suggestion that employees should receive two weeks vacation after a year’s service, and questions about five weeks vacation for long-term employees. While she said she did not question they deserved the vacation, she only questioned the length of time they would be away from the job with someone else covering their duties.

Rose said she had researched other city policies and five weeks or more is the standard.

Commissioner Ann Brammer asked why a 30-hours-per-week employee is designated as full-time. Wallingford said the state retirement system considers anyone who works more than 100 hours a month as full-time and the city is required to pay benefits on that employee.

Commissioners will act on adopting the manual at a later meeting.

Also Thursday, Caudill briefed commissioners on legislation passed this year by the Kentucky General Assembly concerning dilapidated or blighted property.

Under Senate Bill 105, which goes into effect January 1, 2022, a conservator can be appointed in circuit court to oversee property that has been abandoned for a year or has a series of code violations. The owner of the property would have the right to object but if they are overruled, the conservator would have the right to take over the property and either rehab it or demolish it if rehab is not feasible.

The conservator could then sell the property and recover a percentage to pay his costs of either rehabilitation or demolition.

Caudill called it another tool in the box in the city’s campaign to have property owners either maintain or tear down abandoned properties.

In other business, commissioners:

— Learned the city will receive $183,016 in municipal road aid. That is about $20,000 more than last year’s funding but about $100,000 less than the city anticipated had the General Assembly approved an increase in gas tax. The funds will be used to patch and repair city streets, Wallingford said.

— Accepted a bid via the Buffalo Trace Road Commission from Compass for rock salt at a cost of $92.97 per ton.

— Set Thursday, May 6 at 1:30 p.m. for the first in what will be several budget workshops for the 2022 budget year.

— Agreed to pay TetraTech Engineering $43,623 in connection with the landfill sewer line project.

— Heard from Wallingford that the Maysville Mason County Recreation Park Pool with open for its normal season on Memorial day weekend.

Commissioners ended by meeting in executive session for about 10 minutes to discuss personnel. When they returned to open session, Rose said a vacancy within the fire department was discussed.