By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

County commissioners Monday pored over a draft job description for an engineer they look to hire for the Road and Bridge department.

The two-page description compiled by county clerk Tina Spencer contains a job summary, lists of essential and marginal functions, and minimum qualifications for the job.

Commissioner Dianne Novak said she wanted to remove the words “have a bachelor’s degree” to avoid deterring potential applicants with master’s degrees from applying.

Spencer suggested changing the wording to “minimum of a bachelor’s degree.”

The job description states the engineer will perform administrative and supervisory duties for the road and bridge department and design and oversee county projects. The engineer will also be the top supervisor for the Road and Bridge Department, which has a road supervisor and a bridge supervisor.

Spencer recommended job descriptions for road supervisor and bridge supervisor be amended because those positions would be supervised by an engineer.

Commissioners asked Spencer to revise the engineer job description and bring it back to next week’s meeting for another consideration.

Onlookers brought up a concern about roads that hadn’t been heard by commissioners before — littering and dumping household objects such as appliances and furniture.

Commission chairman Kent Becker suggested perhaps the county could start a program similar to one operated by Kansas Department of Transportation, where volunteers clean litter from ditches every six months.

In other business, commissioners:

• Agreed to send a letter of support for counseling agency Restoration Center to Beacon Health Options. The letters will be used to support Restoration Center’s application for a grant to help with funding for clients who don’t have insurance. “Right now there’s a great need but there’s no funding,” Restoration Center CEO Carl Taylor said.
• Continued an earlier discussion about purchasing crushed concrete for use as roadbeds. Metal used to reinforce concrete rises to the top over time and can cause tire damage. Road supervisor Jesse Hamm said he’s considering using the concrete for patching potholes.
• Reviewed fuel bids for Road and Bridge department, voting to purchase from Epp’s.
• Discussed purchase of road rock with officials of Harshman Quarry, making no decision.