Quincy Park Board approves nearly $13,000 salary increase for executive director

QUINCY — The Quincy Park Board voted at its Wednesday night meeting to approve a 10 percent salary increase for Executive Director Rome Frericks. 

The board’s 2024 budget report showed Frericks’s approved budgeted salary for 2024 was $99,275. The recommended budget for 2025 indicates a salary of $109,203.

Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of the increase.

“This year marks the 10th anniversary of our executive director. That longevity is something we don’t see in a lot of positions, especially with a lot of park districts,” Commissioner Barb Holthaus said. “Quite honestly, right now there are several openings throughout our state for qualified individuals. We feel like we are fortunate to have a qualified director as a core member of our district.” 

Commissioners also voted 6-1, with Commissioner John Frankenhoff voting no, to approve the operating budget for 2025, with estimates of $11.4 million in revenue and $14.5 million in expenditures. The Park District is using $2.3 million from its reserve funds. The budget included raises for several salaried employees.

Talks about raises for salaried employees initially began in August when the board reviewed new federal overtime rules for executive, administrative and professional employees. The Department of Labor signed a law that hiked the salary minimum of $35,568 to $43,888 on July 1. A second increase to $58,656 was scheduled to occur on Jan. 1. Scheduled increases were to be determined beginning July 1, 2027, and every three years after. 

However, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas recently invalidated the Department of Labor ruling, and the salary minimum will remain at $35,568. However, Philpot said the Park Board will honor the salary increases previously promised to employees.

“Anything other than that would be other than what this board should stand for,” he said.

The meeting’s agenda indicated that approval of the operating budget would be made via voice vote. However, Frankenhoff requested a roll call vote, to which Lyons objected. Since no other commissioners seconded Frankenhoff’s motion, voting on the budget took place via voice vote.

John Gebhardt, president of Friends of the Log Cabins, provided a summary of the group’s activity this year. The group estimated that 1,286 guests visited the Lincoln-era Log Cabin Village on Quinsippi Island. The guest book received 368 signatures. Of those, four signatures belonged to guests from other countries, and nearly 200 belonged to guests from other states. 

Gebhardt also noted 146 volunteers donated more than 1,267 hours of their time to the organization, with an estimated value of $42,432.

The board unanimously approved a union contract for its full-time employees — laborers, mechanics, and golf crew — with District No. 9 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to begin Jan. 1 and continue until Dec. 31, 2027. It will have an $83,200 impact on the 2025 budget for 16 employees.

Frericks submitted a summary report of fourth-quarter status updates on several projects for the District, including:

• various improvements and the installation of an irrigation system at Westview Golf Course;
• total seasonal revenue and attendance estimates for Indian Mounds Pool, which was 260 guests short of the district’s targeted attendance, and the Batting Cage Facility, which was more than $1,000 above the district’s targeted revenue;
• completion of renovations to two restrooms in the Moorman Park complex area;
• awarding of a project for a new all-inclusive playground to be completed by December 2025;
• and the termination of testing for AI chatbots for use in the district.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Figures about the operating budget and the Department of Labor minimum salary ruling were incorrect in a previous version of this story.