SALEM — The Salem Parks Commission discussed wage increases for Centennial Park Pool employees in its February meeting.

Parks Director Jacob Logan explained that his predecessor Shane Franks had promised last year’s pool employees a longevity raise should they return this year in an effort to retain employees and reduce training expenses. While this effort proved successful, with Recreation Supervisor Kelli Pastore noting that around 75% had elected to return for the upcoming season, under the current wage ordinance these employees were already making the maximum permitted rate. Logan also said he believes when the department budget was developed last year it did not account for the minimum wage increase which has since taken effect, nor the raise granted to Secretary Diana Harshman, compounding the issue. As a result, were the department to grant the promised raises in addition to the other unbudgeted increases, it would exceed its budget for part-time employees by over $7,000.

“Our budget for part-time employees for the entire amount is $40,000, and that includes Diana,” Logan said. “When you take her out for her hours for what she works at her new wage, she ends up at around a little more than $10,000 for the year, when we added in the concession stands at the new wage, and if we were to give raises for this year, we end up at a new wage total of $47,279, so that is a difference of $7,279.”

Logan also said that last year’s part-time employee wages exceeded the amount budgeted by $2,933. However, Logan said that he and Pastore had found a potential solution by reviewing “the passes that were sold along with daily gate,” from last year’s pool season which Pastore said totaled $13,314, and that while running a municipal pool is always a loss, if the revenue from the pool was utilized in addition to the funds budgeted for part-time employees, it could help to defray the unbudgeted personnel costs.

“Any money made from the passes, or the daily gate is going to be money recouped, but that’s not a win, that’s still going to be counted as a loss, because for the pool to be a success we’d need to make more than we paid out in wages, supplies, electricity, and maintenance, which we will never make back. But with that coming in, it at least does offset that $7,000,” he said.

Logan also noted that this did not account for any revenue gained from the pool concession stand, as while it did make a profit last year it was “very minimal,” at around only $140. To that end, Logan and Pastore said they had plans to upgrade the department’s offerings at the concession stand to appeal to a wider audience, and hopefully bring in a larger profit.

Pastore said that the only things the concession stand really offered last year were “pop, and candy, and boiled hot dogs,” and that they were looking to implement new menu items like walking tacos, pizza and nachos “so that people will want to eat and spend money.” Pastore also said that she and Logan were looking to acquire a hot dog roller to cook the hot dogs as opposed to being boiled in a crock pot to increase the quality of the hot dogs that the concession stand already offers.

Pastore also noted that last year she had received multiple complaints about the limited menu, particularly in light of the department’s ban on bringing in outside food, with Commission President John Panezott noting he had received similar complaints.

“I got complaint after complaint about the concession stand food because they wanted more of a selection, and when we’re telling people they can’t bring in outside food and all they have to pick from is a little bag of cookies and a boiled hot dog, I’d be upset, too. Not everybody is going to like hot dogs, so we have to have other options,” said Pastore.

The commissioners ultimately agreed in the value of expanding the concession stand’s offerings, and voted unanimously to forward the suggested wage increases to the city council for review.

The parks commission will meet next at 5 p.m. March 27.

mahart@mojonews.com