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ESCANABA -- The Escanaba City Council decided to forgo the annual review process for City Manager Jim McNeil Thursday and instead give him high marks for his first year on the job.
"I think as far as the community is concerned, hearing their council members vocally commend their manager I think holds more value for them than us filling out forms that they're never going to see anyhow and then watching us argue over numbers in the next meeting, because occasionally, we do digress into that," said Mayor Mark Ammel. "I think that perhaps this year, considering where we started and all the things that we've done and the distance we've come, we just commend him very highly; say 'Thank you for your hard work and we look forward to working with you in the years to come.'"
McNeil was first appointed as the city's interim manager in November of 2022, following the resignation of City Manager Patrick Jordan. The interim designation was dropped in January, when the city council voted unanimously to hire him on a permanent basis.
"I just feel that the manager has done everything that he promised to do during his job interview and then some. I think he's gone above and beyond the things that I asked him to do," said Council Member Ron Beauchamp.
Beauchamp and Council Member Karen Moore were strong advocates for skipping the formal review process this year, but Council Member Tyler DuBord raised concerns that skipping the review would automatically score McNeil as a middling 3 out of 5 for performance -- a score he thought was too low.
"I think you haven't hit standard. I think you've gone above and beyond," he told McNeil.
DuBord also raised concerns that deviating from the review process would leave McNeil without valuable feedback and create inconsistencies.
"Nobody has any criticism here. None. Why go through it?" countered Moore, who previously said the council was always able to broach concerns with McNeil directly outside the review process.
McNeil himself expressed no real preference for whether or not the review was done using the traditional rubric forms or whether the council wanted to note his performance in some other way.
"I would welcome any type of action or no action. I think I have a pretty good understanding of where things are at and I feel pretty comfortable with the way the city's trending," he said.
Ultimately, the council voted unanimously to give McNeil a universal 4 out of 5 for performance, indicating he had outperformed expectations.
In preparation for next year's evaluation, McNeil was asked to outline his goals for the coming year. He indicated the primary focus for the city would be on the city's budget, economic development, and major infrastructure projects.
"It'll be work like none of us have seen during our times with the city," he said, noting it was his goal to have regular information meetings this winter to inform the public about the scope of upcoming projects.
In other business the council:
– Held a public hearing and heard presentations from the Michigan Municipal Employees Retirement System and the city about a planned exit from MERS control of the city's defined benefit pension plans. The city intends to self-manage the investments that back the plans, which apply to 15 active employees, 19 vested former employees and 127 retirees and beneficiaries.
– Approved the hire of Markley's Precision Company, LLC to paint fire hydrants in the city at a cost of $515 per hydrant that requires lead abatement and $410 for hydrants that do not require lead abatement. The project is already included in the water department's budget.
– Approved retaining the services of Dixon Engineering and Inspection Service to perform an inspection of Northern Michigan University antennas on the South Water Tower. NMU will reimburse the city for the related costs.
– Approved obtaining the services of Payne and Dolan of Gladstone to complete the needed asphalt patchwork related to work on the city's water system for an amount not to exceed $590 per ton. Money was budgeted and available for the patchwork.
– Approved closing 11th Street from 1st Avenue South to 1st Avenue North for the Spooktacular Trunk or Treat event on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. and residents are advised that the closure includes a portion of Ludington Street.
– Heard a presentation on the summary report for the Ogden Triangle Historic Resource Inventory.