The Suttons Bay Village Council held a special meeting last Wednesday, Nov. 28, "to consider a personnel matter concerning a village employee."

The employee in question was village manager Chuck Stewart, who requested that the council go into closed session to discuss the issue as is allowed under the state Open Meetings Act.

A motion to go into closed session cited a provision of the law related to a requirement to “hear complaints” against Stewart.

Following the closed session, the village council voted 7-0 in public “to review the manager’s job performance within 90 days.”

The motion also directed the council’s Legislative Committee to “draft a set of procedures for an evaluation at which time the entire council will evaluate the manager’s job performance.”

According to a 2008 budget the Village Council adopted last month, the village manager’s annual salary was estimated at $66,393, up about nine percent from last year’s $60,390. Village budget documents do not contain a listing of salaries by individual positions and require that anyone viewing the budget add up line items from several funds to determine an individual employee’s salary.

In a prepared statement released following the closed session, Stewart said the council’s concern was “whether we have the right personnel policies in place and how or if the matters were being addressed properly.”

“I commend the council in looking into their concerns and making sure things happen they way they want, and wanting changes where they feel change is necessary,” Stewart added.

Stewart added that a formal method to evaluate his job performance would be useful.

“I think this is a great thing for both the council and the manager since it will help establish necessary goals and objectives, but will also be able to provide a mechanism … which the council can use to see if things are on target in the future (and) if not, they can take any number of necessary adjustments to make sure things do get on target,” Stewart said.