Kissel gets $11,934 in comp pay

More than six months after his termination, the city of Glenwood has reached a financial settlement agreement with former city administrator Brian Kissel.
    Under terms of the agreement released last week, Kissel received $11,934 in compensatory pay for overtime hours he had accumulated during his employment with the city, which started in the spring of 2011 and ended on Feb. 9. Glenwood City Attorney Matt Woods released terms of the settlement last week, noting Kissel’s acceptance of the agreement releases the city of any and all additional claims in the matter.
    Woods said although the city’s policy and procedure manual doesn’t provide compensatory time pay for department heads, the city has historically allowed them to accumulate up to 240 hours. Following his termination, Kissel was initially granted $7,934 – 240 hours at $33.06 per hour (1.5 times his regular pay rate). Woods said Kissel asserted he was actually entitled to pay for 600.5 hours of compensatory time and was seeking a total of $19,852.53.
    “The issue was how much, if any, he was entitled to,” Woods said. “Brian said he was told at the time of his hiring that he could accumulate compensatory time and he was of the understanding that it was uncapped.”
    Woods said after researching the city’s past compensatory time pay practices for department heads and discussing the matter with mayor Brian Tackett and members of the city council, an additional $4,000 on top of the $7,934 was offered to Kissel. He accepted the offer in August.
    With Kissel’s settlement agreement now finalized, Woods said the city is working on a standard written policy to clarify compensatory time practices for department heads.