Staff writer
Marion County Road and Bridge supervisor Jesse Hamm brought up disciplinary options for insubordinate employees Monday at the Marion County Commission meeting.
He asked for clarification from commissioners of whether he could fire, demote, or reduce the pay of the employee without giving a verbal and written reprimand first.
Road and Bridge Superintendent Randy Crawford said Hamm experienced an intense verbal confrontation with an employee. Crawford also said there have been other employee problems that have needed to be addressed.
Commissioner Randy Dallke suggested having the employee see Crawford as the department head. Commissioners agreed that a disciplinary action could be taken without verbal or written reprimands.
“That’s just stuff that happens with an employee,” Commission Chairman Dan Holub said. “It’s a brand new issue. Sometimes you get a new twist you’ve got to talk about.”
Hamm also asked if he could take action against a former employee hanging around the shop who was distracting current employees. Commissioners suggested making current employees clock out if they talk to the former employee for more than 15 minutes.
Crawford and supervisors Hamm and Bud Druse also discussed several possibilities for making the department more efficient.
The first measure they suggested was working four 10-hour days in the summer from a traditional eight-hour five days a week work schedule. Crawford said this would allow the department to save money on fuel costs on running pieces of equipment on that extra day.
Druse also suggested breaking the county into 10 different working sections instead of 14. He said the difference would allow some employees to work as a culvert crew or perform other necessary duties.
“We have culvert problems out there we need to tackle,” Druse said.
No decision was made on either measure Monday and will be discussed further in the department.
However, both suggestions were questioned by commissioners for reasons related to personnel. With a possible day off, Roger Fleming wondered if employees would schedule vacation trips even on weeks when weather would forfeit a regular workday.
With larger work sections, supervisors and commissioners agreed that more employees might work more efficiently.
“I think there are blades going up and down the road on days where they don’t need to be,” Fleming said.
The Road and Bridge department has four major road projects — 330th Road, 60th Road, 40th Road, and 120th Road — scheduled this summer.
In other business:
- The Road and Bridge department is taking bids for steel posts for signs. Bids should be placed at the Marion County Shop, 142 N. Coble. The County is asking for 100 9-foot steel posts, 200 10-foot steel posts, and 150 11-foot steel posts.
- A six-month salary increase was approved for Paul Webb from $1,989 to $2,021 effective on April 17.