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Allegany County Public Works seeks to fill specialized equipment roles and approves ARPA-funded mulcher
Summary
The committee approved filling a full-time crane operator and an assistant heavy equipment mechanic, discussed recruitment challenges and salary competitiveness, and authorized buying a CAT HM 418 mulcher for $49,144.45 with ARPA funds; the county treasurer confirmed ARPA funds must be spent by year end.
Allegany County’s Public Works Department told the committee May 6 it needs to hire a full-time Crane Operator and an Assistant Heavy Equipment Mechanic and the committee approved both hiring requests and referred them to Ways and Means.
County Superintendent Thomas Windus said the crane operator role is highly specialized and difficult to fill, noting recent personnel have moved to contractors, operators’ unions and town jobs. He said salary competitiveness is a factor. Windus described an instance where the department contracted out a transmission rebuild at $220 per hour after losing an in-house mechanic. “It is a very specialized piece of equipment and not many people are interested in taking on that responsibility,” Windus said.
The committee approved the request to purchase one CAT HM 418 Mulcher from Milton Cat for $49,144.45 under a NYS OGS contract, using ARPA funds. County Treasurer Jenna Kelley confirmed that ARPA funds allocated to the purchase must be used by the end of the year.
The committee recorded estimated salary ranges and benefits for the positions in the minutes and authorized staff to proceed with hiring steps, with the requests to be referred to Ways and Means for budgetary action.
