CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Quality of service won out over quantity of hours for the Chaffee Solid Waste Department Monday night.

The Chaffee City Council voted 5-3 to keep the status quo for the department's three full-time workers after Councilman Ron Davis pointed out they were being paid about $9 per hour for a full 40-hour workweek without having worked 40 hours.

But that didn't matter to most citizens at the meeting as they voiced their support and pleasure regarding the quality of the trash pickup in Chaffee.

Janice Madalon moved to Chaffee seven years ago, and she said that the service provided by the workers in Chaffee was far beyond what she got in Cape Girardeau County. "There, I paid more, and if a bag broke or anything, it stayed there," she said, "I've never had that problem here."

Madalon also said she wanted to express her appreciation for the workers. "I have no problem with what they're being paid," she said.

Mike Hinkebein said the workers could stretch their work over a full 40-hour workweek, but that wasn't necessary as long as they were doing their job well. "You can drag a job out, or you can work a job," he said. "They're doing what they're being paid to do. This shouldn't even have been brought up."

Others in attendance didn't have a problem with the quality of service but did have a problem with the workers being paid for more hours than they'd worked.

"I've had many full-time jobs," said Earl Bermann. "If I worked full-time, I had to put in the time."

Pat Lizenbed also said she was bothered by the arrangement. "If they only worked 30 hours a week, they should only get paid 30 hours a week," she said.

Covered its expenses

Solid Waste Department supervisor Steve Felty clarified that only he and two other employees in the department are full-time. Only these employees receive benefits, he said, and the part-time employee is paid only according to the time he puts in, and not 40 hours per week.

He pointed out that the department covers its expenses with fees charged citizens for waste pickup, and on top of that earned $31,000 for the city last year.

Councilman Doug Dirnberger said that one way to resolve the situation would be to work together to bring in new businesses, and therefore more jobs and more trash for the workers to pick up, to Chaffee.

A 20-minute debate ensued, with Davis arguing that with the money they would have saved by paying the two full-time employees and Finley only for the hours they actually worked could have bought another garbage truck by now.

"But money is the secondary issue to me," he said. "My first issue is to be fair to the other city employees.

"They get the same paychecks, the same benefits, the same holidays and they all attend the same Christmas party in December. Why shouldn't things be equal?"

Dozens signed petition

Davis then made the motion to set a 35-hour workweek for all city employees, with benefits and workman's compensation remaining the same.

Councilman Bob Sullivan disagreed with this motion. "They do a good job for the pay they get, and that's all you can ask from anybody," he said.

The motion was defeated 5-3. Mayor Bill Cannon then said he had a petition with more than 100 signatures requesting that the city keep the wages at the Solid Waste Department the way they were. Sullivan then made the successful motion to leave all the departments as they were.

"What's best for the city," Sullivan said, "is to just leave things alone."

City administrator Ron Eskew, who said last month he was looking for guidance on the issue as he writes the city employee policy book, said the council's action means he will have to word the employee hours policy in broader terms. He and city attorney David Summers agreed that federal law only covers shorting employees for hours worked, not paying them for a full-time week when they worked fewer hours.