Selection of a new supervisor for the County Road Department is scheduled to take place Aug. 26 at a specially reconvened open meeting of the Board of the County Commissioners, who also comprise the Highway Commission Board.
Commissioner Paul Donohue thought it was most important to get a new supervisor for the road department put in place since the retirement of Steve Chouquer in June, “because it is becoming too long without one.”
Three people have applied for the position. Shane Cheeney is the acting supervisor.
Over 70 applications were received for some of the other positions with the road department, but Donohue, as chairman of the Board of Highway Commissioners, sees some of the applicants are not even meeting some of the basic requirements of the job, and called for a committee to be formed to review the applications and sort out the ones that are not as fully qualified.
It was decided, at the suggestion of Donohue, to form a committee consisting of at least two board members, himself including, the newly appointed supervisor, and one person from the public, to narrow the applications down to the top five, and decided how many hires for each category will be made.
The minimum need is for one mechanic, and two blade operators.
The road department office in Caliente said there were 39 applications for blade operators, 29 for laborers, and five for mechanics.
Donohue said there are 514 roads within Lincoln County that are to be maintained at least once a year by the road department, and the department is definitely short handed at present.
The committee will also seek to fill the newly created position of road department project manager.
