Mayor Tom Joyce, center, discusses a proposal to expand the residency requirement for firefighters during a Parkersburg City Council Personnel Committee meeting Wednesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — The Personnel Committee unanimously referred a resolution expanding the residency requirement for firefighters and an ordinance allowing employees to cash in some of their sick time to the full Parkersburg City Council during a meeting Wednesday.

For 12 years, the city has required firefighters to live within a 28-mile radius of the Municipal Building. Prior to that, they had to be residents of Wood County.

Fire Chief Jason Matthews proposed changing the policy to say firefighters must maintain a full-time residence within a 90-minute drive of the Municipal Building. The goal is to increase the pool of potential hires after the most recent test yielded 43 applicants, 35 of whom passed the test. The prior test saw 22 of 23 applicants pass, and the list was exhausted within 12 months, he said.

“Several (departments) throughout the state have done away with residency requirements,” Matthews said. “I think maybe let’s expand it a little bit and let’s just see what that does.”

The department has four vacancies and some of the candidates would not have to move if the full council approves the policy change, he said.

Fire Chief Jason Matthews discusses a proposal to expand the residency requirement for firefighters during a Parkersburg City Council Personnel Committee meeting Wednesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Even if the department had an incident requiring additional manpower to be called in, “we’re not going to use everybody all at once,” Matthews said. Firefighters would be notified of when they need to report to relieve others with plenty of notice, he said.

The committee also approved a proposal to allow employees to cash in sick time no more than once a year at half their regular pay. The payout could not drop their accrued time below four weeks.

Personnel Director Jennifer Schoenhut said the proposal is aimed at addressing sick leave abuse, which is an issue for many employers, not just the city. Some employees can use banked sick time to enhance their benefits when they retire, but for others, there’s little to no incentive not to use up what they have.

“This is not an uncommon practice in the private sector,” Mayor Tom Joyce said. “I don’t think there’s any downside to it.”

Councilman Chris Rexroad questioned whether getting paid half-time is enough of an incentive to prevent someone from taking a sick day when they don’t really need one. Joyce said paying it at the full rate would be like “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Parkersburg City Councilman Chris Rexroad, left, asks a question during a Personnel Committee meeting Wednesday at the Municipal Building as Chairwoman Sharon Kuhl listens. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Councilwoman Cathy Dailey said she didn’t mind the policy but cautioned it won’t stop some people from abusing the benefit.

“There’s a group that’s always going to come to work if they’re dying, and there’s a group that’s not,” she said.

Also approved on a 5-0 vote by the committee was an ordinance that would set a pay rate for the fire inspector as a civilian position and create a new position in the Development Department.

Matthews said no active firefighters have expressed an interest in the vacant fire inspector position. Joyce noted the chief has been performing inspections for several months.

Rexroad asked if the mayor and fire chief believed they could find a civilian qualified for the job.

Personnel Director Jennifer Schoenhut discusses a proposed ordinance that would allow employees to cash in a portion of their accrued sick time during a Parkersburg City Council Personnel Committee meeting Wednesday at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“It’s probably more difficult now than it ever has been,” Joyce said, adding that retired firefighters or people who have worked for the state fire marshal’s office could fit the bill. “I don’t know of anybody that’s angling for this job from the outside, but we’ve got to get it posted.”

An ordinance approved last year by council allowed the 40-hour-a-week job to be filled by a civilian if no active civil service firefighters took it. But it required the civilian rate of pay to be set by council.

Development Director Ryan Barber said the creation of the housing coordinator position will not add an employee to the department but rather allow for a redistribution of duties after the financial compliance officer retired. Some of that position’s duties will go to the Finance Department or be handled by others in Development, while the new position focuses on housing issues and programs.

The legislation is expected to be on the agenda for council’s next meeting on May 13.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.