Board approves reclassification of water department roles, appoints public works technician

The Muskegon County Board of Public Works on a voice vote approved item DPW2601-002 to reclassify the environmental manager position (grade 25) to a regional water system supervisor (grade 22), reclassify a full-time public works technician (grade 10) to public works technician 2 (grade 15, step 4), and appoint employee E93034224 to that public works technician 2 post.

Public works staff explained the change followed the retirement of the prior environmental manager. Mr. Vandenmash said the former environmental manager “announced his retirement in November” and that some duties had shifted over time. He told the board the reclassification aligns pay and responsibilities for the current workload and creates a more reasonable career progression into the water system supervisor role.

Commissioners asked whether sustainability duties would transfer with the reclassification. Mr. Vandenmash said similar sustainability tasks had been assigned previously to a sustainability coordinator and that “the sustainability duties are not gonna be handled by staff other than the sustainability coordinator.”

The motion was moved by Water Resources Commissioner Barrett and supported by Commissioner Nash; the board approved the item by voice vote. The board packet included the existing and proposed job descriptions and staff said they had discussed the change with the Water Assistance Policy Board as part of the water budget.

The action will change grade assignments and place the named employee in the public works technician 2 role; implementation details and effective dates were not specified in the discussion.