The LaSalle County Salary and Labor Committee on Dec. 25 approved hiring a retired highway maintainer on a part-time temporary basis to cover needs while an employee is on workers’ compensation, and approved a $2.50-per-hour pay increase tied to a reclassification for two administrative staff.

Chair Steve Aubrey called for the highway department’s request to bring back a retiree for snow events and short-term coverage. A department representative said the retiree would work only as needed, would “run the same route you ran before,” and that his “rate he retired at” was $29.89 per hour; the representative also noted retirement-earnings limits that would cap the retiree’s pay at about $1,600 per month. The committee voted, by voice, to approve the hire (motion moved by Mike McEmory; seconded by James Bailey).

On separate business, staff described a negotiated agreement with AFSCME to change two current secretary/bookkeeper positions into two administrative-assistant positions with identical job descriptions and to provide each of those two employees a $2.50-per-hour increase for the duration of the contract, effective Dec. 1. A staff member said the union “has already signed off on a letter of agreement.” The committee approved the reclassification and pay increase by voice vote (motion moved by Doug Traeger; seconded by Mike McEmory).

The votes were taken by voice; the meeting record shows no roll-call tallies for either action. No amendments or conditions were recorded.