Van Buren supervisors delay hiring additional road crew

The Van Buren County Board of Supervisors took no action Monday on a recommendation to hire a secondary roads department truck driver and instead asked for more information on hiring temporary summer help.

Engineer Dave Barrett recommended the new hire to bring the staff to seven. The number of truck drivers had been at eight, but was reduced by vacancies. This new hire would be an equipment operator who would run a truck, excavator and bulldozer, as well as mow.

Supervisor Marvin Philips said, ?We need to strike a balance to be efficient and have enough to do the job.?

Supervisor Mark Meek sympathized with Barrett going into the summer with a lack of manpower to mow and perform other duties and suggested hiring someone to help out for the summer.

However, the supervisors told Barrett not to hire someone permanent until they discuss the matter further.

Board chairman Ted Nixon said, ?At this point, no to a new hire.?

?I?m not happy,? Barrett responded. ?I have a good candidate who may back out.?

The supervisors have been considering reducing the number of motor grader districts and/or snowplow routes. Currently, there are seven motor grader districts and seven snowplow routes.

At last week?s work session, Barrett said if there is a reduction, he would rather it be in the truck/snow routes than in the motor grader districts, which assumed there would be just one position left vacant.

Marvin Cox alleged, ?Maybe we won?t need as many drivers if they would stop taking as many breaks. I see trucks stopping at Circle B at the beginning of the day, and I went over to Cantril and saw both maintainers with their blades up.?

?They are allowed so many breaks, and sometimes they might not take a break for a while,? Philips said.

Randy Besick said, ?The perception is that they don?t respect the fact and recognize that this is our money. It?s a matter of perception.?

Barrett said information presented at last week?s meeting was not correct. The total cost to the county for each worker is ?less than $50,000, which includes benefits.?

?So if you reduce two workers, you save under $100,000. If you want to reduce my budget by $100,000, I could do it. But I am short handed. I need the staff,? he said.

Barrett said the reduction would come from equipment and supplies.

?The budget is based on road use taxes, which account for 82 percent of the budget. The remaining comes from property taxes,? he said. With the recent vacancies, ?projects are not getting done.?

The supervisors asked for information on the possibility of hiring temporary help in the summer.

In other business:

? Barrett said the federal bridge program fund for Van Buren County has a $1.2 million balance, of which $91,000 has to be spent this year or else it?s lost.

? The farm-to-market balance will be $1.9 million as of June 30. The W40 road improvements come from this fund, as would any new blacktopping.

? June 1 is still the start date for road improvements south of Stockport.

? Repairs to the piers on Pittsburg?s Des Moines River bridge on J40 will be let in September.

? The board approved a bid from Frank Millard of Burlington for HVAC renovations at Center Village Care Facility in an amount not to exceed $286,000. Nixon said the renovations are important to protect the jobs of the people working there, the residents and the integrity of the building itself.

? A public hearing was held to review the progress of the Community Development Block Grant childcare construction project with Van Buren County Hospital employees Kara McEntee and Doug Dehart and Chris Bowers representing Area XV Regional Planning Commission.

The project is a multi-use community facility with a preschool and day care. The $516,000 grant was awarded in 2009 to assist in the construction of the 7,400 square foot, two-story building.

The lower level will contain head start, day care and preschool. The upper floor will contain various offices.

Merit Construction has the contract.

The total cost is $1.3 million. Other funding sources include a $100,000 grant from the Van Buren Foundation, a $30,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Van Buren County and a $100,000 United States Department of Agriculture grant.

According to hospital officials, loans total the rest, including a $360,000 zero interest USDA grant funneled through the Keosauqua Light and Power plant.

The contract deadline was March 31, and a 160- or 180-day extension is being sought. Although the hospital was expecting the completion date to be June 15, the end of June or into July is expected for completion.