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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Fire Board Closes Meeting To Press And Public

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah, June 2013.  Garden City Fire Board.  CPA Tiffany Wahlberg noted that she had called state authorities because of the difficulty the board has had, and discussed in several meetings, in deciding if the fire chief was an exempt or nonexempt employee.  Chief Kurek was hired as an exempt employee until about two years ago.  At that time the board decided that he needed to track his hours, be paid for 40 hours per week, and take time off for any hours that exceeded that number.   

Because of the unevenness of the jobs, responsibilities, and activities that Chief Kurek must do, it has been very difficult to make sure his hours are exactly forty hours per week and never over or under.  The board has been very strict in making sure Chief Kurek stayed within these limits. They have actually spent time in board meetings discussing a two hour overage.  If he did exceed forty hours of work , taking time off, especially near the end of the month has been difficult, resulting in Chief Kurek losing any comp time that he had accumulated.   

Tiffany Wahlberg reported that the state said that Kurek should be classified as an exempt employee and paid a salary for his position.  At that point in the meeting, a board member called for a closed session to discuss this matter, and those individuals at the meeting were asked to leave.
 
It was reported later, that Kurek will be an exempt and salaried employee.

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