St. Clair County staff outline road projects, recommend hires and repeat 4x10 summer schedule

Dan, a county staff member, told the St. Clair County Commission work session that crews have advanced multiple road projects and that staff will bring personnel items to the commission meeting for formal action.

Dan said Park Avenue still has a “few punch out list” items to finish, Trail’s Inn and Kerr Road work continue, and crews have completed Cook Springs Road and several side roads. He said crews have been joined to increase milling and hot‑mix production and that a 10‑hour day raises hot‑mix output from "a little over 200 tons in a regular day" to "a little over 300" on a 10‑hour schedule.

The work session included personnel recommendations. Dan recommended hiring Christopher Collie and Ron Talbert to fill two vacant Road Worker 1 positions. He also proposed reclassifying one vacant Road Worker 1 position to Intermediate Road Worker so the county can hire four candidates he identified: Drake Sanderson, Dennis Watts, Jamie Blackburn and Lane Taylor. Dan framed those as recommendations that the commission must approve at its upcoming meeting.

Dan described a repair plan for a section of Riverside/Broken Arrow Road with an estimated cost of about $120,000 for the portion under county responsibility. He said the city’s mayor indicated the municipality may contribute and that, if the county proceeded without city funds, the county would document the city’s notional share; Dan suggested a roughly even split of about $60,000 each for the county and city as an example. He described a construction timeline of hot‑mix work likely in June, followed by a scrub seal after curing, and a contractor‑applied micro‑surface expected in the fall.

Commissioners and staff discussed scheduling. Dan asked to resume four 10‑hour summer workdays and proposed beginning “next Monday, which is the nineteenth, I believe.” He said the schedule has worked well in prior years and increases weekly production. Dan also noted staffing challenges for operator and CDL‑required positions and that the county initially had several vacant operator positions it is trying to fill.

These items were presented as staff recommendations and discussion points; Dan said formal personnel changes and any contract approvals will be placed on the commission meeting agenda for action.

Next steps: the commission will consider the recommended hires, the reclassification request and any formal approvals for the Riverside work in its upcoming commission meeting; the county will follow up with the mayor and city council to confirm cost‑sharing before finalizing the Riverside contract.