City continues approval of remote work for police employee

A city police department employee will be allowed to continue to work remotely from her residence in Puerto Rico for at least another year.

Sarah Serrano is the longtime administrative assistant for the Medford Police Department. In 2023, the city council agreed to allow her to work remotely for the city as she and her husband live much of the year in Puerto Rico.

The move to remote work had the support of Medford Police Chief Chad Liske and came with the condition that it would be reviewed in six months. At the June 10 committee of the whole meeting council members reviewed how the remote work was working and finding no concerns, continued it for another six months with review before the end of the year.

Serrano was at Monday’s meeting for that review and to answer any questions or concerns from the council.

“We have been super happy with the way it has worked out,” said chief Liske. He said that there has been no change in how long it takes for records requests to be answered or any department task.

Liske said he supported the city continuing the remote work arrangement.

For her part Serrano said it has been working well from her end.

“It has gone better than expected,” she said, noting they have made provisions at their house including having a backup generator in order to guarantee they have power. She said she is looking forward to getting fiber optic internet in the next few months which will improve her access further.

One of the things that has helped is the district attorney and courts moving to a paperless system with everything filed electronically. She said they haven’t had any problems so far.

Council member Ken Coyer said he has asked people in the community for their input on continuing the arrangement. “I have found no one wth any opposition,” he said.

Mayor Mike Wellner asked council members if they wanted to review it again after a period of time or just leave it unless an issue comes up. Council member Clem Johnson said he felt it would be good to bring it back again for a routine review. However rather than setting a specific date, the council will leave it open ended to have a review sometime before the end of 2025.

In other business council members:

• Received an update on the leaf pickup. It was originally scheduled to take place this week, but because of the leaves still being on many trees in the city, the city will have a second collection in early

• November and are asking people to have their leaves on the road by November 4.

• Received word that the village of Stetsonville approved an engineering plan exploring the option of piping wastewater from the village to the city of Medford as an option rather than making sizable upgrades to the village’s wastewater treatment plan. The city, largely as a result of improvements over the years to reduce clearwater infiltration, has more than enough capacity to handle the waste from Stetsonville. City coordinator Joe Harris said the village needs to do its due diligence to determine what is in the best interest of village sewer customers.

• Received an update on the election with 350 absentee ballots having been requested and about 100 of those have yet to be returned. In person absentee voting begins at the city hall on Monday, October 29 during normal work hours.

In a committee of the whole meeting following the special council meeting, members discussed the annual employee lunch. It will take place in early December and city staff will report back on meal costs to be finalized at an upcoming council meeting.

Council members also met in closed session to review the dental and health benefits plans and the 2025 nonunion wages. No action was taken from the closed session with it to be brought back to the November 11 council meeting.