Starland County is creating a new position within the county to help with the upkeep of the facility and grounds and supervise any seasonal staff.
Dimitri Dimopoulos, the Community Services Director, presented the Facility and Grounds Maintenance Lead Hand position to council during the June 14 meeting.
The position would be a permanent position that would help with maintenance and repairs within the community as well as ensure that there was a supervisor for the seasonal staff.
“There’s a need for a permit for a permanent position within the community services department. This will aid in field support and supervision of his eternal labourers, as well as providing recommendations on preventative maintenance and improvement,” Dimopoulos said.
The wages for the position would come from the reallocation of two hourly seasonal positions. There would be a slight financial increase due to the cost of paying for benefits that come with having a full-time position.
Starland County tries to hire five to seven seasonal staff a year; however, recently, they have not been able to fill the positions.
“Seasonal recruitment has been extremely difficult,” Dimopoulos said. “So having that retention, right now, we only have two seasonal staff.”
Judy Fazekas. Legislative Services Director (LSD) spoke to the risk management side of having the position. She said seasonal staff should be supervised and that having the full-time position would help and provide direction for the staff’s work.
Councillor Jacqueline Watts brought forward her concerns with the position.
“I just think it’s a lot,” said Watts when addressing the key duties and responsibilities of the job position.
Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Robblee addressed Watts’ statement by telling the council that it is much harder to add new roles and responsibilities to the position after hiring someone.
“I see the value in the position,” said Reeve Steven Wannstrom.
Weed notice
Starland County agriculture services staff inspected a property with a history of scentless chamomile infestation.
The property is located at NW 30-32-17-W4, and the inspection has shown that scentless chamomile has started to grow in large scattered patches throughout the property.
Starland County council has approved the motion to send out a weed notice to the property owners.
If the weed notice is issued and not complied with, a contractor will be hired to spray the infestation and the statement of expenses will be sent to the landowner.
Travis permits
Starland County has raised the cost of the Travis permits from $15 to $25, like some of the surrounding counties.
During the regular June 14 meeting council decided to change the fee for the Travis permits to $25, which will help the county pay off the $5000 they owe to the Travis permit program. The increase is also due to the Travis permit from $14.50 to $16 per permit, effective Nov. 1, 2022.
Most of the surrounding counties have their Travis permit fee priced at $20 or $25 per permit, while some counties have raised the price higher than that.
“This isn’t an impact to our ratepayers, this is an impact to those things that come to our county anyways and wreck our roads,” said Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Robblee.
Jessica Campbell
ECA Review