Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer would like to see a resolution to the unfilled positions at the highway department.
He explained to fellow Commissioners Mike Delp and Kurt Garner Monday morning that the assistant clerk position needs to be filled as well as the county engineer position. He stated that the person who is currently doing the work of two clerks is up to 75 hours of comp time since Jan. 1. He mentioned that Highway Supervisor Jason Peters is at 80 hours of overtime.
Commissioner Delp disagreed with the number of comp time for the clerk, but he said he would research it a little further.
Overmyer said with the bridge projects coming up this summer, the position needs to be filled.
“I think it’s time to move on, one way or the other, in the next two months to get this worked out,” said Overmyer. “I still propose that we hire a financial administrator to be over the two office staff and let Jason (Peters) continue as the superintendent of the highway personnel.”
He commented that he’s still not in favor of an engineer for the highway department.
“I’m still not in favor of it because of our revenue, but maybe things will change. Maybe an engineer for the county as a whole, not just the highway, but for the surveyor, maintenance, or whatever projects we’re doing – I would probably be open-minded to that. I think that position could come under the commissioners. Also, I believe that Jason should be compensated for the work he has done, either his salary be adjusted or move him to hourly.”
Council President Judy Stone said she’d also like to see a resolution soon.
“Please come up with a solid plan for our highway department to get some help in there,” pleaded Stone. “We’re actually two people down than what we had last year. Having done paperwork I know how serious it can get, especially when it comes to federal requirements and the bookkeeping and recordkeeping end of it. If we jeopardize our federal reporting, we also jeopardize our funding.”
As of Monday morning, there have been no additional applications submitted for the positions.
