HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 3184-2021KENAI
CITY OF KENAI
ORDINANCE NO. 3184-2021
Sponsored by: Administration
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AMENDING KENAI
MUNICIPAL CODE 23.30.050 – BUSINESS HOURS AND HOURS OF WORK TO ALLOW FOR
ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WHEREAS, this ordinance eliminates from KMC 23.30.050(b) the specific work schedule that is
set for Police and Communications personnel, allowing that schedule to be set or changed
administratively while maintaining the four day work week; and,
WHEREAS, KMC 23.30.050(b) currently requires "(4) shifts of 10 hours per week" as the normal
schedule, however alternate schedules may be both beneficial to the City and to the employees;
and,
WHEREAS, during a portion of the public health emergency dispatchers have worked a schedule
of (3) shifts of 12 hours and (1) shift of 4 hours per week and that shift has worked well for the
Department; and,
WHEREAS, the alternate schedule with 12 hours shifts has advantages including it is
predominately a preferred schedule for staff, it provides for less hours during the week of a
dispatcher working alone in the dispatch center without another dispatcher to assist, and it is also
not an uncommon schedule among some other dispatch centers.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA,
as follows:
Section 1. Amendment of Section 23.30.050 of the Kenai Municipal Code: That Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 23.30.050 – Business hours and hours of work, is hereby amended as
follows:
23.30.050 Business [H]Hours and [H]Hours of [W]Work.
(a) The hours during which City offices and departments shall normally be open for business
shall be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Police and Fire shall be open for business twenty-four (24)
hours a day. The library, Senior Center, Public Works and Animal Control operations shall be
open for business as authorized by the City Manager.
(b) Public Safety employees, not including administrators, normal work week is:
(1) Police and Communications—four (4) shifts [OFTEN (10) HOURS] per week, two
thousand eighty (2,080) hours annually. When working this shift, first and third days off
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Ordinance No. 3184-2021
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shall be treated as Saturdays and the middle day off (the second day) shall be treated
as a Sunday for purposes of paying overtime;
(2) Employees performing fire protection activities as defined by the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) may work any FLSA approved 7(k) Work Period" approved by the
City Manager.
(c) All other employees' normal work week is forty (40) hours, two thousand eighty (2,080)
hours annually. Standard work day is midnight to midnight succeeding. Standard work week
is midnight Sunday to midnight Sunday succeeding. Operating hours may be adjusted on
timely notice.
Section 2. Severability: That if any part or provision of this ordinance or application thereof to
any person or circumstances is adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such
judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision, or application directly involved
in all controversy in which this judgment shall have been rendered, and shall not affect or impair
the validity of the remainder of this title or application thereof to other persons or circumstances.
The City Council hereby declares that it would have enacted the remainder of this ordinance even
without such part, provision, or application.
Section 3. Effective Date: That pursuant to KMC 1.15.0700, this ordinance shall take effect
30 days after enactment.
ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this 171 day of February,
2021.
BRIAN GABRIEL SR., MAYOR
ATTEST:
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Introduced: February 3, 2021
Enacted: February 17, 2021
Effective: March 19, 2020
KENAI
_...enai 1 210 Fidalgo Ave, Kenai, AK 99611-7794 1907.283.7535 I www.kenai.ciky
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Brian Gabriel and Kenai City Council
THROUGH: Paul Ostrander, City Manager
FROM: David Ross, Police Chief
DATE: January 20, 2021
SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 3184-2021, Amending KMC 23.30.050(b)
In KMC 23.30.050(b), the normal schedule for police and communications staff is stated as "four
(4) shifts of ten (10) hours per week'. This ordinance will remove the language that specifically
states the number of hours per day, but keeps the four day work week.
Dispatchers have been working a four-day work week schedule comprised of three 12 -hour shifts
and one 4 -hour shifts for the last couple months of the public health emergency, and there are
some benefits we can retain if that schedule is permitted beyond the current emergency. When
we are fully staffed, under the normal schedule of 10 -hour shifts, we have about 52 hours per
week of a dispatcher working alone in the dispatch center without a partner, which is less than
optimal. When we are fully staffed under the 12 -hour shift schedule, we are able to reduce the
time that a dispatcher would be scheduled to work alone down to approximately 16 hours each
week. It is also a generally preferred schedule among dispatchers.
This ordinance does not set the schedule for dispatchers, it simply allows the schedule to be
adjusted administratively within a 40 -hour perweek, 4 -shifts per work -week schedule, rather than
being set in Code specifically as 10 -hour shifts.
There is no intention to make changes to the police staff schedules at this time.
I respectfully request your consideration of this Ordinance.