By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon said she would like the Alabaster City Council to hire a city finance director and make several changes in the organizational structure of City Hall during a Feb. 7 council work session.

During the work session at the Alabaster Senior Center, Handlon said she would like to hire a finance director and create treasurer, deputy clerk and city manager positions to help handle the city’s finances.

Handlon’s request came after the council reviewed an Alabama attorney general’s opinion, which the council requested in November 2012 to determine the correct procedure for splitting the city clerk and treasure positions. Currently, Marsha Massey serves as both the city clerk and treasurer.

While summarizing the attorney general’s opinion, City Attorney Jeff Brumlow said the City Council has the authority to split the clerk and treasurer positions into two employees, and could appoint the employees to fill the positions.

To enact Handlon’s proposed organizational structure, the council would be required to split the city clerk and treasurer positions.

If the plan is approved, Handlon said she would like to see Massey appointed to the treasurer position and current City Administrator George Henry appointed to the city manager and city clerk positions. Handlon proposed appointing an existing city employee to serve as the deputy clerk and hiring a new employee to serve as the finance director.

Handlon said the salary range for the finance director position would be about $69,000-$97,000, and said the current budget would allow for the hiring of the new employee.

“This has nothing to do with the job being done by Marsha. It’s just that the job has gotten so big,” Handlon said.

After reviewing the attorney general’s opinion, the council heard from Glen Till from the Till, Hester, Eyer and Brown accounting firm, which handles Alabaster’s annual financial audits.

Till encouraged the council to consider hiring a “strong financial person” to help handle the city’s accounting duties, which he said have grown significantly over the past 13 years.

The council likely will vote on the matters during its Feb. 18 meeting.