“Basically this two-year period is going to be good, intense transfer of knowledge and training for both gentlemen,” Water and sewer director Jim Williams said.
The agreement states he will be working 35 hours a week and earning benefits. He has been earning $96,408 since January when he received his 5% pay bump, just like most other county employees.
County Administrator Judi Boyko told the Journal-News while he’ll be making a hefty sum, his earlier raise wasn’t high enough given the market and “the cost benefit of hiring contractors to perform class IV operator duties was not in the best interest of the County’s utility or the customer.”
The county operates two main wastewater treatment plants and Madden is the only Class IV operator left. Williams said Madden has been splitting his time supervising the two facilities for a while.
EPA rules state the time splitting is allowed as long as ”there is another professional operator certified at a level no more than 2 classes below that of the treatment works or sewerage system on site" fulltime.
The new hires are Alexander Earley, with a starting salary of $96,720 and Anthony Sherill, whose annual salary is $87,360. Williams said Earley is very close to achieving Class IV status so “he will be the primary person to replace Todd when he retires.”
Commissioner Don Dixon agreed the succession plan is pricey “but he has the expertise and the knowledge of our system and it’s pretty complicated to keep those plants running.” He said he was pushing for the succession plan, given the age of their workforce.
“We’ve got a lot of people aging out. top people,” he said. “I said look, you need to get some people in there and get them trained, let them understand the system, it’s not as simple as sending your bill out and you get it back in the mail.”
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