“I want to voice my concern for an agenda item that was not included on the agenda without proper meeting notice, that’s just poor process,” he said.
McAbee made a motion to hold the contract to a first reading, but that failed for lack of a second.
Fairfield Twp. Trustee Susan Berding said Vonderhaar’s contract was properly noticed, but admitted “maybe not in the best format.”
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Trustees on July 6 called for a special meeting to discuss, among other things, employment of an employee and to interview township police chief candidates.
“We did (provide) notice that we were going to talk about the administrator’s contract,” Berding said. “We did not presuppose that we would approve that contract.”
Fairfield Twp. Law Director Lawrence Barbiere said the agenda item was “properly noticed” and was appropriate to include it on the agenda after trustees came out of their executive session meeting.
Berding said it was important to get Vonderhaar’s contract approved, not only “in recognition of her excellent work” but her previous contract had expired.
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“I felt it was important that we get a new one in place,” she said. “She’s worn other hats, including managing the service department and serving various zoning tasks a lot of that time without an assistant administrator. And all that time she’s never complained about her workload, not once.”
Berding said among Vonderhaar’s accomplishments in her short time as administrator includes getting the Story Point project moving, negotiating deals with the city of Hamilton and Fairfield City Schools, and implementing many community events.
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But McAbee said that he doesn’t believe Vonderhaar has done the job to warrant an $80,000 salary, and said that a lot of recent accomplishments in the township are because of consultant Ken Geis. He was the interim administrator for nine months, stepping down in May 2015.
“None of that would have happened without him,” he said. “It would be different if she could do the complete job.”
Vonderhaar startedworking for the township in June 2014 as assistant administrator, and was named interim administrator in May 2015. She was earning just more than $50,000 annually until June 22, 2016, when she was hired as the permanent administrator. Her salary for that contract was $70,000.
Trustee Shannon Hartkemeyer called Vonderhaar “a true asset” to the township.
“She has worked tirelessly for the good for Fairfield Twp.,” she said. “She genuinely cares for the township and our residents.”
With her new salary of $80,000, Vonderhaar remains one of the lower paid administrators in Butler County. West Chester and Liberty townships pay their administrators six-figure salaries, according to the Journal-News' I-Team Payroll Project.
Vonderhaar’s new contract also comes with a $250 monthly car allowance, something that wasn’t in her first contract as the township’s administrator.
“I am honored and so grateful to be continuing in my role,” Vonderhaar said. “Fairfield Twp. has a remarkable history and many incredible future opportunities.”
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