At BRA, pair got extra $52,300 to do odd jobs ; Officials vague on staffers' duties

It had been an irritant for far too long at Boston City Hall: when employees at the Boston Redevelopment Authority used a microwave in a ninth-floor hallway to heat their lunches, the smell of warming food wafted into nearby offices, creating a distraction for city planning officials.

So last fall, the agency decided to pay two of its staffers - both architectural model builders, who have few regular responsibilities - to construct a lunchroom where employees can heat and eat their food without disturbing others. The model builders, whose combined annual salary is $133,000, performed the work during off hours to avoid disruptions, collecting $4,400.

It was only one of several odd jobs they performed last year while collecting overtime, according to a Globe review of …