County reviews highway reorganization, equalizes foremen pay and creates highway administrator role

County staff presented a reorganization of the highway department during a budget hearing, saying the change would create a highway administrator role, formalize a highway board of directors and equalize supervisory pay.

The county’s presentation said the “highway administrator” title will replace the previous administrative assistant and that the highway board of directors will “consist of all 3 highway foremans and the highway administrator.” The presenter said the change recognizes the way foremen and administrators have been operating since the superintendent left and is intended to preserve redundancy and continuity.

Staff proposed making the four supervisory positions — three foremen and the highway administrator — equal in pay at $50,500 each, down from the former superintendent salary of about $60,500. County staff said that setting each foreman at $50,500 would put the total foreman line at roughly $151,500, and that the budget would also separate an ERC (emergency response certification) stipend of $2,500 for those certified as backups.

The county described operational details for the new structure: the four supervisors currently meet weekly to plan work and verify purchases; small purchases below a set threshold would be handled by the highway board, while major purchases (staff cited $15,000 as an example) would continue to be approved by the board of commissioners. Staff said the weekly meetings are intended to keep crews coordinated across district assignments and to support cross‑coverage when employees move between areas.

County staff emphasized the certification requirement for ERC duties, explaining that one certified person can be on record with the state and others may be designated as backups but that the state must be notified when temporary substitutions occur. Staff said the separation of the administrator duties and the ERC stipend preserves redundancy if the highway administrator is absent.

No formal action or vote was taken during the hearing; staff presented the proposed edits to job descriptions and pay lines for review. Presenters said the proposal will be discussed again at the formal October meeting, when the budget and any ordinance or personnel changes would be considered for approval.

Questions from commissioners and other attendees focused on how weekly meetings are scheduled and whether supervisory meetings occur during paid work hours, how purchases would be verified under the new structure, and how ERC certification would be administered.

The county will return with finalized job descriptions and line‑item adjustments for formal consideration at the scheduled October meeting.