In addition to approving the police working 12-hour shifts, the council also approved paying police time-and-a-half for holidays worked, increasing roll-over time for unused leave, and granting officers an additional annual personal day off.

At the workshop Police Chief Jason Etzler stated, "One of the things I've been trying to do since I have taken over and everything is to come up with a good schedule that not only keeps the morale up with the officers but also provides the best service to the community."

Etzler further stated the officers had been working ten-hour shifts up to March, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the chief having to implement 12-hour shifts. "I would like to move the department to 12-hours shifts .... Everyone (officers) has liked that so far."

However, he said, 12-hour shifts create a financial problem by generating an 84-hour workweek, which equates 104 extra hours per officer per year. As of now, he said, police overtime is being covered by COVID-19 relief funding, which will continue to the end of December. "Starting with the new year, we will not have the (COVID) funds to do that," the chief said.

One of the benefits of going to 12-hour work weeks is that it alleviates the problems the department has had in the past with overlapping ten-hour shifts. It takes more shifts using a ten-hour shift to cover a 24-hour period, Etzler stated. It also allows more flexibility in scheduling officers so there is sufficient time for people to take off, which was difficult to work out during the ten-hour shift schedule.

Along with that, Etzler asked the council to approve officers to be paid time-and-a-half during holidays for those who actually work during a holiday. The chief also requested the council to be able to carry over 96 hours of leave-time instead of 80 hours, as is currently the case.

Also at the workshop, Mayor Wantz noted, "Obviously, there is a rather significant fiscal note attached to this. Not just for our current budget year, but looking into the future," adding, "This is kind of a trend we're starting to see more and more, as police departments are better-able to focus their efforts by working 12-hour shifts."

Wantz pointed out that this proposal would result in adding $56,000 for the police in next year's budget, in addition to the possibility of adding a new police officer for $60,000 plus. Etzler stated the 12-hour shift would still work for the department if hiring another officer had to be put-off for a while.