Pullis says he has 'fantastic' applicants for positions

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The Henry County Conservation Department has many quality applicants to choose from for two vacant positions on their staff.

During Tuesday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting, conservation director, John Pullis announced that applications for the part-time secretary position and park ranger/naturalist position have been steadily coming in, and many promising candidates are being looked at.

?We ended up with 10 applicants for the park ranger/naturalist and 12 for the part-time secretary position,? said Pullis. ?With both positions, there have been some fantastic applicants.?

Pullis, along with a board of others, have been rating applicants as their applications are received so as to better decide which are the most qualified for each position. According to Pullis, there have been a healthy mix of local applicants and applicants from outside Henry County applying for each open position.

Pullis hopes to present the top candidates at the May Henry County Conservation Board meeting.

In addition to speaking about current job openings in his department, Pullis also reported on the recent activities of Henry County naturalist, Cari Nicely. This month, she has met with over 1,000 students through a variety of conservation programs. Nicely is also assisting in the organization of the Bill Jamerson?s Musical Tribute to the Civilian Conservation Corps on Friday, April 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the Oakland Mills Nature Center.

Besides a report from Pullis, the board also heard from county engineer, Jake Hotchkiss as he shared his weekly report. Besides approving four underground utility permits for Windstream and one for Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities, Hotchkiss also updated the board on the current conditions of some of Henry County?s gravel roads that have recently fallen victim to frost boils.

?Gravel road conditions are improving, but some areas are healing faster than other areas,? said Hotchkiss. ?It is going to take a few more weeks before things are back to normal.?

Hotchkiss also announced that Daniel Buechel, an employee with the Henry County Engineer?s Office, would be receiving a certificate of appreciation for his 20 years of service to the county.

All three supervisors signed a certificate that will be presented to Buechel at a later date.

Finally, the supervisors signed an approval for a grant application submission to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Any funding obtained from this grant will go to assisting the Henry County Jail. At this time, the money available from this grant is undetermined.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be tomorrow (Thursday) at 9 a.m., inside the Henry County Courthouse.