Contract gives raise to Van Buren road crew, deputies, dispatchers

KEOSAUQUA ? The Van Buren County Board of Supervisors has approved a two-year labor agreement with the secondary road employees and sheriff?s deputies and dispatchers unions.

The new agreements begin July 1.

The new contracts have several changes. Both contracts include 2.25 percent wage increases per year for employees.

The secondary road contract also includes language changes in the seniority section regarding job-bidding procedures.

The deputies and dispatchers contract also includes language changes in hours worked/overtime, normal workweek for computing overtime hours, normal work schedule and increasing the dispatcher yearly uniform allowance from $300 to $350.

During their regular weekly meeting Monday, the supervisors learned from Van Buren County Engineer Dave Barrett patching was to begin Wednesday on county road W30 south of Stockport.

?During patching, the road will not be totally closed,? Barrett said. ?But it will be starting June 1 when Shipley Construction begins their part.?

The road will be closed from the city limits of Stockport to Highway 16 during the repaving project.

Barrett updated the board on Eagle Drive near Farmington. Two more small slides were repaired. The contractor thought the slides were due to the fact a culvert hadn?t yet been in place.

For other projects, Barrett said the box culvert on 120th Street has been finished; bid letting for the Livesay bridge on Osage Avenue will be June 19 for fall construction; and bid letting for Pittsburg bridge pier repairs will be in September.

Barrett showed core samples of the Harmony black top road to the supervisors.

?It shows that the road is in good shape, and there were about 9 inches of asphalt,? he said. ?The plan is to mill 4 inches of blacktop off the top and do a ?cold in place,? putting the milled asphalt back. On top of that will be 3 inches of asphalt in 1.5-inch lifts. ? It will be done in the spring of 2013.?

Barrett also told the supervisors that dust control is being applied. Whaleys has done tree sap, and beginning today, Binns and Stevens will place calcium chloride.

This year, there were 170 applications compared to 185 last year.