Eagleville councilmen agreed last week to start closing city hall on Fridays and staying open an hour longer the other four business days of the week.

The new schedule for city hall to be open will be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday with the office being closed for lunch. The current open hours are from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-noon on Friday, with the office being closed for lunch.

Adams suggested the new hours at last Thursday’s council meeting, saying the hour later would give people who work outside of Eagleville a chance to come in and do business.

In order to be full-time salaried, Adams is to work at least 37.5 hours per week. The new hours that city hall is to be open adds up to 32 hours per week if it is closed an hour for lunch, leaving her 5 ½ hours more that she has to work.

Adams asked councilmen if there was any objection to her coming in at 7 a.m. and working until 5:30 p.m., which would total 38 hours a week if she takes an hour lunch. The new hours when the office is open to the public would still be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., but this arrangement would give her 90 minutes per day to work without interruption.

Vice Mayor Ronnie Hill said "that will be fine," and other councilmen expressed no objections.

"I will assure you that I will get my 37.5 hours a week in," Adams said.

Mayor Nolan Barham noted that besides her regular hours, Adams attends city meetings after hours.

Normally, she only attends the once-a-month council meetings, which ordinarily last between one and two hours each month, and a meeting is not held during the month of July. There will occasionally be a called council meeting, particularly during the month of June when the budgeting process is underway. She does not attend planning commission meetings.

When councilmen discussed the hours for the city recorder position before Adams was hired last December, they agreed to keep city hall open from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. five days a week which would be 37.5 hours with a lunch hour.

Since Adams, who is supervised by Barham, has been on board, however, the city hall hours have been from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-noon on Friday with a lunch hour. This adds up to 32 hours but Adams said she worked longer hours.

"It was posted on the sign 8 to 4 when I started here and is still there," she said. "That is the office hours I keep. I am here usually after that."

Councilman M.A. Smitty questioned whether Adams was filling out a time card or other documentation, and Barham responded that she did not have to fill one out because she is on salary.

Barham added that Adams kept a log for the first 90 days, which is the probation period for city employees, but has not kept one since that time.

Hill said that Adams needs to keep her log for her own protection.

"It would be good if she did after what we have gone through," he said.

In the city’s 2006-2007 audit, certified public accountant (CPA) John Poole cited lack of payroll documentation as a "material weakness." Poole noted that the city was not able to support amounts paid to previous city recorder Michelle Bennett, which included overtime, because of the lack of documentation.

Poole’s recommendation was that the city should maintain the proper documentation for payroll expenditures.

"This documentation should include at a minimum timecards or time sheets showing all hours worked, vacation time used and sick time taken," he wrote.

The city management’s response to the material weakness citation was that "we agree and will maintain the proper documentation for payroll expenses."

Adams is apparently classified as exempt salary because she is to receive no overtime pay, according to councilmen’s previous discussions.