Personnel discussions

Jay County’s personnel committee has been, and will continue to be, busy.

The bulk of Jay County Council’s meeting Wednesday was spent discussing personnel-related issues, including preparing for retirements, changing job descriptions and answering questions about changes in the payroll schedule.

Council agreed to allow Jay County Prosecutor Wes Schemenaur to temporarily reinstate a position as longtime office staffer Connie Southworth prepares to retire.

Southworth, who is the officer’s child support administrator, will step away from the role this summer after more than 30 years. Her last official day will be June 30, but she plans to take vacation during her final month. Sherri Bickel will be promoted to take her place, and Schemenaur plans to hire a new employee to step into Bickel’s role.

For that reason, Schemanaur asked that he be allowed to hire the new employee early — his target is May 1 — in order to allow training while Southworth is still on the job. He suggested temporarily reactivating an unfilled position for approximately May 1 through June 30, saying he has funds to cover part of the salary and estimating the remainder would cost the county about $6,000 to $8,000.

Council members Jeanne Houchins, Gary Theurer, Mike Rockwell, Faron Parr and Amy Runyon Barrett, absent Ted Champ and Cindy Newton, agreed to that provision. Houchins pointed out the importance of the positions and keeping continuity, noting that Jay County’s staff has made the “honor roll” for having one of the highest child support collection rates in the state.

Also discussed was the prosecutor’s office’s investigator position. While saying investigator Curt Compton does not have immediate plans to retire, Schemenaur added that he wants to be prepared when that time eventually comes. He asked that the investigator’s job description be changed to bring it up to the same salary classification as that of the sheriff’s office investigator.

Council agreed to send that job description to management consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates for its review.

Also being sent to the consulting firm will be job descriptions for Jay Emergency Medical Service. Gary Barnett, one of the service’s trio of supervisors, previously suggested creating more differentiation between pay levels in order to make it easier to attract and keep paramedics.

Houchins also told council that the personnel committee, on which she is joined by Champ and commissioner Chuck Huffman, plans to have Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates visit the county to meet with sheriff’s office employees to explain and answer questions about a change to payroll policies.

The county made a series of changes in order to comply with Indiana code, including adjusting pay periods to put all county employees on the same schedule. That has led to concerns, in part because the sheriff’s office uses a four days on, two days off basis schedule, instead of the traditional 40-hour-week.

Because of that issue, council clarified in December that sheriff’s deputies will work a total of 80 hours over a two-week span rather than 40 hours each week. But there have still be questions, leading to the decision to bring in Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates. 

Houchins said the personnel committee also plans to meet with retirement center director Amanda Cox to seek clarification about proposed job description changes.

Also Wednesday, council approved a series of additional appropriations, including $115,463.46 from the innkeepers tax for Jay County Visitors and Tourism Bureau. Sandy Bubp, who is now president of the visitors and tourism board, presented council with a breakdown of how funds are slated to be spent. That includes $40,800 for employees, $18,000 on marketing materials and $15,500 on festivals and events.

Other additional appropriations included $15,000 for the health department for vaccines, $14,000 for Arts Place’s Arts in the Parks program, $2,000 for Jay County Historical Society, $1,500 for Museum of the Soldier and $1,200 to cover longevity pay for a county employee who changed positions.

In other business, the council:

•Talked about the likely need to move more money into the jury fee fund, as the county has already had two jury trials this year with a third on the schedule.

•Re-appointed Champ to serve on Jay County Plan Commission.

•Discussed the possibility of shifting the building and planning department back into the general fund.