Commissioners keep environmental-services tech slot amid staffing shuffle

Commissioners reviewed a consent-agenda item that would fill a vacant tech/clerk position in Environmental Services created when an FTE moved from the surveyor’s office. Staff explained Michelle Bert absorbed the transferred FTE and her prior tech role is now vacant; the plan presented to the board was to refill that tech/clerk role rather than reduce total FTEs.

Board members questioned whether existing staff could absorb the duties (answering phones, taking minutes for planning commission and board of adjustment, basic administrative tasks) and whether Soil and Water could assume septic and feedlot responsibilities. Staff reported Soil and Water is short-staffed and unlikely to take on those duties. Commissioners said combining environmental and surveyor duties in one office appeared efficient; no net increase in FTEs was proposed. A motion to approve the consent agenda, which included the staffing item, passed by voice vote.

Commissioners asked staff to confirm that the position’s job description, reporting office (Environmental Services) and day-to-day responsibilities are documented before hiring. No individual hiring decision was made at the meeting.