Twp. Committee, Engineer Agree to Lower Pay

After back and forth discussions within the township committee about Washington Township Engineer Leon Hall’s hourly pay rate, both the committee and engineer have come to an agreement that will lower Hall’s rate by $10 per hour.

The discussion, which began at the Jan. 5 , started as a proposal by the committee to keep Hall’s rate the same in 2011 as it was in 2010. Before going forward to approve the measure, Committeeman Dave Kennedy asked the committee if Hall was making too much.

Hall’s pay increased 18 percent between 2009 and 2010, and he received a total of $14,972 in pay last year as an hourly employee of the municipality.

Kennedy, who believed , said that other municipalities with comparable size to Washington Township were paying their hourly engineers an average of $120 per hour.

After the Township Committee’s , Mayor Ken Short met with Hall to discuss the possibility of a lower hourly rate, after the committee considered interviewing new candidates for the job.

At the Wednesday, Feb. 16 township committee work session, it was revealed that Hall had accepted a lower rate, now $130 per hour, for his 2011 contract. Hall, an employee of Denzler & Associates Engineering Firm, has worked for Washington Township for 20 years.