By Tom Gilchrist
Staff Writer
VASSAR — Vassar City Manager Brad Barrett has accepted a job as city manager in Flushing in Genesee County, and Vassar city leaders scheduled a special meeting today at 8 a.m. to discuss appointing Police Chief Ben Guile as acting city manager.
Barrett said he notified Vassar Treasurer and Interim Clerk Merri Lemcke on Wednesday of his decision to take the Flushing job, which pays an annual salary of $80,000. Barrett, who began as Vassar city manager in October of 2011, receives $59,000 annually in that position along with a $3,600 annual car allowance. His last day as Vassar city manager is Jan. 9, and he plans to start working in Flushing on Jan. 12.
“I’ve been here for three years and there has been nearly a quarter of a million dollars in grants received, and the most recent would be the state (Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund) grant for $42,600 to install a kayak launch near Water and Plumb streets,” said Barrett, noting he signed his contract with Flushing on Thursday.
The job in Vassar, population 2,865, was Barrett’s first as a city manager. Flushing has a population of about 11,000, and City Council members there picked Barrett from more than 40 applicants for the city manager position.
Since July 1, 2009, the city of Vassar has lost $202,453 in property-tax revenue due to declining property values, according to a June 2014 letter Barrrett wrote to Vassar City Council members.
“Unpopular changes have been implemented during my tenure with the city to counter the reduction in revenue,” Barrett wrote.
Changes include requiring full-time city employees to pay 20 percent of their health-insurance premiums, cutting the city’s overall payroll amount by 10 percent and instituting a new tier of wages and benefits for new employees. Grants and rebates obtained during Barrett’s tenure total $279,586, he said.
In addition, Vassar realized a $252,567 savings by refinancing a sewer-and-water bond issue at a lower interest rate, Barrett said.
The city, using federal grant or loan money, has reconstructed Huron Avenue from the railroad tracks east to Norman Street, and has made sewer improvements along Water Street, Huron Avenue and beneath the Cass River, according to Barrett.
City Council members, at this morning’s 8 a.m. special meeting, are to consider a resolution directing Guile to “shadow (Barrett) until Jan. 9, 2015 to better understand what is currently being worked on by the city manager, what items are outstanding, where various working documents are located, and to insure a smooth transition after the city manager leaves his employment” on Jan. 9.
If council members approve the resolution, Guile would begin as acting city manager on Jan. 10.