Page 8 — Thursday, May 11, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
Nottley recommended using a nine-step pay
scale, with each “graded” role receiving its
own salary range. The scale represented a
25 percent raise from step one on the scale
to the final, ninth step. Raises could then be
doled out uniformly to each role based on
seniority, performance or a mixture of both,
Nottley said.
If the city were to move to such a system,
Nottley provided figures for what it would
cost to provide a raise to each of the city’s 19
roles that would move them to the nearest
“step” of the proposed nine-step scale.
Including the $16,121 raise for the six city
employee roles below the minimum recom-
mended salary, the total cost would be
$28,874.Raises for employees outside of the six that
fell below the minimum recommended
amount were much lower on average. A
$1,750 raise for the city manager was the
highest of these recommended raises. The
lowest proposed raise for the city’s deputy
police chief was just $37.
Although the study found few major pay
discrepancies at the city, City Manager Sarah
Moyer-Cale said the information provided on
how to implement a step-based pay scale was
still hugely useful.
“One of the reasons why I really wanted to
do this study was because we didn’t have a
step system or have any good way to advance
people through any kind of wage increase and
make sure that it was fair, both internally withother positions (at the city) as well as being
market rate with what other people are pay-
ing,” Moyer-Cale said. “I think this gives us
the data to implement something that we can
really use more effectively.”
Councilman Al Jarvis said the study’s rec-
ommended pay ranges came in closer to what
the city was already offering than he antici-
pated.
“I guess I was kind of surprised that we
weren’t as far off as I thought we were going
to be,” Jarvis said.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Moyer-Cale
said. “There’s a few positions that are pretty
significantly lower (than recommended by
the study), but for the most part a lot of the
positions were very similar.”Section
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3CORRECTION: (Reminder 5/6/23 ad incorrect)
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United Way names
TKHS senior Youth
Volunteer of the Year
Mia Dickman has sorted rooms filled with
toys to give away at Christmas, planned the
annual roof sit to raise funds for a community
organization, hauled wheelbarrows full of
mulch to spread at YMCA Camp Algonquin
and helped teach younger students about
philanthropy. And that’s just the short list of
her many volunteer efforts.
The Thornapple Kellogg High School
senior has a heart and passion for helping
others and helping make her community a
better place is what earned her the Barry
County United Way Youth Volunteer of the
Year award.
Dickman said she was shocked when her
name was called for the honor.
“It just makes you feel good to do some-
thing to help someone else,” she said. “It has
never been about getting an honor or recogni-
tion and it never will be. I do it because I
want to leave an impact on my community
and help make a difference.”
She credits her parents, Holli and Jeff, for
instilling a desire to help others.
“They raised me to always give back and
to help where I can. I also have an older
brother (Sam) who I always looked up to. He
really inspired me to be involved and I just
always wanted to be as involved in things as
he was.”
Dickman has been a member of the Youth
Advisory Council of the Barry Community
Foundation since she was in eighth grade.
She served as president this year and last year
as the grant chairperson.
In addition to being in YAC, she is a mem-
ber of the TKHS National Honor Society,
student council and teacher cadet program.
Her high school activities include being in
musicals, honors choir, mental wellness club,
Young Life, Close Up trip to Washington
D.C., student section leader, and Kent ISD
student leadership.
“It’s been fun and a great four years,”
Dickman said. “I’ve been really involved and
able to meet so many people I wouldn’t oth-
erwise get to know.”
Of all her volunteer efforts, Dickman said
the annual Barry County toy drive is probably
her favorite. “It’s just amazing to see all the
toys and clothing donated to help families,”
she said. “We go through and help sort it all
out and you know you are just helping in a
small way for some kid out there to have
something for the holidays – some family who
can’t afford gifts. It’s eye-opening for me. It
makes me feel good to be able to help because
I know it will make the kids feel good.”
With her passion for helping others, Dick-
man plans to attend Hope College next year
to study to become a child life specialist and
work in a hospital setting.SET IN STONE: Time capsule set
in brick at new Delton elementary
Karen Turko-Ebright
Contributing Writer
Sealing the lid that will withstand numer-
ous decades on the 2023 time capsule in the
new elementary school building marked an
epoch in the history of the Delton Kellogg
Schools District.
The monumental moment happened quick-
ly, too.
Delton Kellogg School Superintendent Dr.
Herman Lartigue said he was notified Friday
around 5 p.m. that the construction team and
workers were ready for the time capsule
installation.
With short notice, some phone calls and
emails went out, resulting in a group of about
20, including some construction workers,
office staff and school principals showing up
Monday morning at the construction site of
the new elementary school.
All who attended were excited to watch the
lid sealed on the time capsule and then placed
in a hollowed-out opening in a brick wall.
Once the keystone arrives – as it is expected to
this week yet – it will cover the time capsule.
“It’s a new chapter for our school district,
town and community,” said Lartigue. “We
could not get everybody here that we wanted to,
and that’s been difficult – it’s still a construction
site. But we were able to get some folks here
that were pivotal in moving this forward.”
Among the group was former school board
member Rodney Dye, who was responsible
for fabricating the copper time capsule.
While serving the school board, Dye
recalled discussing a future time capsule for
the new elementary school.
He said the school board wanted a copper
box like the one discovered behind the key-
stone in the old elementary school, which
was built in 1936.“When I was on the school board at the
time, they were looking for another box sim-
ilar to what was in the first time,” said Dye
referring to the old capsule.
“We wanted to replicate that one – it was
locally made,” Dye explained. So, when it
came time, he went to work and constructed
his copper box.
After six weeks, the product was complete
and measured 16 inches long, seven inches
wide, and 10 inches high. On the inside of the
box lid, an engraving read: “American Preci-
sion 3D 5 Axis CNC Machining & Custom
Tools, Rodney Dye.”
Dye owns and manages American Preci-
sion in Delton.
“So, for historical purposes, I can see
where I won’t be alive for it, but generations
will look back at that and say this is what they
did,” Dye said. “So, historically, I think it’s
pretty cool.”
With limited space inside the time capsule,
school officials managed to pack many items
inside, including some of the following:- 2022 school yearbook
- A flash drive of photos
- Rotary club coin
- Hastings Banner newspaper clippings
- A video on a flash drive of the old time
capsule - Construction update articles and docu-
ments - A 2022 graduation program
- A 2022 homecoming program
- 2022-23 DK schools personnel directory
- Information on the Delton Rotary Club
- DK newsletter
- Barry County phone book
- Photos of area businesses and the U.S.
Post Office - A letter from Lartigue
Kelli Martin attended the time capsule
installation. Martin has been on the DK
school board for 10 years and was named
president earlier this year.
“It’s very exciting because this has been in
the works for years,” said Martin, about the
time capsule.
Assistant high school principal, athletic
director and coach of the girls’ varsity basket-
ball team, Mike Mohn, was among those who
attended the time capsule event. Mohn
enjoyed watching the time capsule be sealed
and installed. He graduated from Delton High
School in 1980. His mother and aunt graduat-
ed from Delton, too, along with many friends.
According to school officials, the new ele-
mentary school will be finished sometime at
the end of December or in January.
“I can’t thank everybody enough for their
hard work,” Lartigue told the Banner and
then named a list of several people he wanted
to thank. That list included Dye for construct-
ing the time capsule, the construction team at
Christman Company along with its project
engineer Dawson Forner and project manager
Todd Champion.
Lartigue said that Champion graduated
from Delton in 2004.
Lartigue notified the school principals of
the time capsule installation and said they
donated items to the and thanked the Delton
Rotary Club for donating.
“It’s just amazing and a testament to Delton
Kellogg and its longevity going towards the
future. I think it’s great. It’s really important
for us.”
“I let quite a few people from the commu-
nity know as well,” said Lartigue referring to
the time capsule installation. “But we just
found out Friday at about 5 p.m. that they
would do it today.”Thornapple Kellogg High School senior Mia Dickman (center) is seen here with her
parents Holli (left) and Jeff (right).
From left, John Trantham of Battle Creek Glass Works and a DKHS graduate; Todd Champion of The Christman Company and
DKHS graduate; Wayne Compton of The Christman Company; DK Superintendent Dr. Herman Lartigue; Dawson Forner of The
Christman Company; Elementary Principal Karmin Bourdo; Superintendent Secretary Michelle Green; Board of Education
President Kelli Martin; 2022 board member Sarah Austin and 2022 board member Rodney Dye.A copper time capsule was wrapped then coated with an insu-
late and placed inside the new Delton Elementary School, which
is still under construction. Soon, it will be covered by a keystone.
(Photos by Karen Turko-Ebright)From left, Delton Kellogg Schools Superintendent Dr. Herman
Lartigue, project engineer Dawson Forner and Rodney Dye get
ready to seal the time capsule before it is placed in a hollowed
opening in the new elementary school building.