Airport board discusses reorganization

By MEGAN HUGHES

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Ironwood — The Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board welcomed new member Peter Matonich at an annual reorganizational meeting on Monday.

The board also re-elected Pat Hanson as chairperson, Dan Siirila as vice chairperson and Mario Loretti as recording secretary. James Lorenson continues to serve as a board member.

Board members also voted to continue operating under Robert’s Rules and to continue scheduling regular meetings on the second Monday of the month at 5 p.m. in the airport office.

The board heard an update from airport manager Jeremy Busch, who attended virtually over the phone.

Matonich encouraged the board to write a formal employee contract that they can utilize going forward.

“I think that you should put something together in writing that dictates what is expected of your employees, and what they should expect benefit-wise,” he said. “It is not an easy process, but it is something you need to do. For example, as manager, do you have a handbook or rule book?”

“No, other than that union contract,” said Busch.

“Then you need to have that ready,” said Matonich. “Right now, if you try to reprimand someone, they might come back and burn you. Unfortunately, that is something that could happen pretty easily.”

He made the suggestion that the board should have Busch and board secretary Kristi Freeman sit down and go over related issues with employees and management in order to come up with an agreement on written expectations.

According to Freeman, there have been attempts in the past to make a comprehensive handbook, but added that those efforts would need tweaking to meet current policies.

The board took no official action on the matter, but will review prior drafts and explore options for the future.

This discussion began as part of a discussion about an employee being paid retirement compensation, based upon salary, overtime and other costs. The board voted to approve the compensation, based on past practice, with the understanding that a copy of the paperwork be forwarded to the airport board for its files.

In other news, the board:

— Approved December reports.

— Approved appropriations as presented.

— Briefly discussed building security.