City council members near agreement with new City Manager

City of Decorah officials seem to be close to an agreement that would bring Adel, Iowa City Administrator Chad Bird to Decorah as the city's new City Manager.

The City Personnel Committee met Friday morning to discuss the salary offer to Bird.  The Personnel Committee had offered Bird a salary of $82,396 a year.  Bird had countered with a proposal to start at $82,396, but increase to $83,500 after six months.

However, city council members said such an arrangement would differ from the way it already handles city supervisor salaries.  The Personnel Committee does salary reviews for all department heads on July 1st.  Personnel Committee members didn't want ot give Bird a raise on April 1st and then also on July 1st.  They also did not feel they could give an informed performance review after just six months.

Instead, the Personnel Committee is offering Bird a starting salary of $83,000--a slightly better financial package than Bird's counteroffer.  If Bird accepts the new offer, the entire package will come up for a vote on Tuesday night's Decorah City Council meeting.  Present Decorah City Administrator Jerry Freund, who is retiring in September after 18 years in the position, is currently getting paid $88,171 a year.