McDonald?s to undergo renovation

The McDonald?s in Washington will receive a make-over in the next 60 days. The store?s owner, Kevin O?Brien, spoke about the remodeling at Wednesday?s City Council meeting. He said the store will add a second drive-up window to reduce waiting times in the drive-thru lane. The store will also reduce the size of the playpen on the south side to make room for 20 more seats in the main dining area.

O?Brien said of the new drive-thru, ?It will have more space to take orders. It will be a lot more efficient and the line will move more quickly.?

O?Brien addressed the council because he sought permission to add a temporary access to his drive-thru window from Jefferson Street, to the north. The access would be temporary and last only through the construction on the building. Councilor Bob Shepherd supported the plan but told O?Brien he should alert the Marion Avenue Baptist Church of his plans. The council voted unanimously to support O?Brien?s project. O?Brien said construction will begin Monday.

McDonald?s will remain open during the construction, although O?Brien said the store might reduce its hours. Once the construction is complete, the entrance from the north will be closed and the entrance will return to the east. There are now two access points for McDonald?s, both of which are on South Marion Avenue. O?Brien said that, under the new configuration, customers will be encouraged to enter the drive-thru from the southern of the two entrances so the line of cars does not spill into the street. O?Brien said he wants the access point on the northeast corner to be used as an exit.

The council also debated whether to give its non-union employees a raise. It voted 4-1 to give them a 2 percent raise. Councilors Shepherd, Fred Stark, Merlin Hagie and Karen Wilson-Johnson voted in favor while councilor Mike Roth voted against the motion.

Stark said the union workers for the city have received a 2 percent ?cost of living? increase. He said the non-union workers for Washington County have also received a 2 percent increase. This was also true for the county employees in Jefferson County. Stark also mentioned that the 2 percent raise was included in the budget the council passed earlier this year.

The council discussed the difference between union and non-union pay. Union workers receive an automatic increase per year known as ?step increases.? Non-union workers do not receive step increases.

Hagie remarked, ?I find that slightly discriminatory. It?s something we?ll have to review.?

Shepherd said the city once had merit-based raises but moved away from that system six or seven years ago.

?The merit raises were causing friction,? said Shepherd.

?And this isn?t?? asked Hagie.

?This is different,? said Shepherd. ?This is a cost-of-living raise that is the same for everybody. That was the problem. Some were questioning how the merit was determined. That?s why we got away from the merit system.?

Stark said the city has traditionally given the non-union workers the raises that the union workers got, ?otherwise, they will also become part of the union.?

Roth did not comment on the matter during the discussion period. However, at the end of the meeting he explained his vote.

?I have a hard time understanding how we can give something that we don?t have,? said Roth.

Wilson-Johnson announced that the cable committee?s grant application to the Riverboat Foundation was denied. The committee asked for $40,000 from the foundation for improvements to the local public access channel, channel 18. The city agreed to supplement the grant with $10,000 of its own money. It was the second time the committee?s grant application has been denied. Wilson-Johnson told the council it should think of other ways of funding improvements to the public access channel.

Shepherd recommended that the committee should ?walk before it runs? and aim for gradual improvements.