County to hire another custodian 
by Mark Berglund
The Star News
February 11, 2010 —  The Taylor County Personnel Committee voted 3-1 Wednesday to add a full-time maintenance position back to the ranks after eliminating the position last year in a budget cutting measure.
The position was eliminated after a September 2009 retirement. The cut was offered up as the buildings and grounds department's 5 percent budget cut during last year's county budget development period. No additional department cuts were offered at Wednesday's meeting to offset the additional spending.
Jeff Ludwig, who heads the Buildings, Grounds and Parks Department, was at Wednesday's meeting to lobby for restoring the employee. He said when the job was cut the committee agreed to revisit the issue in 2010. "January came and it's just not going well," Ludwig said.
Ludwig said maintenance employees in his department have had to perform custodial duties in addition to their regular job descriptions. Ludwig said his department's summer work load will add to the strain. "I agreed with the decision at the time, but it's just not working," he said.
The custodial position includes wages and benefits of approximately $46,000 in the first year and $52,000 in the second year.
Ludwig told the committee the department will see savings in its operation cost when Northcentral Technical College takes over the current ag services building. Committee member Lester Lewis questioned whether the transfer was a sure thing as the federal grant proposal to fund the school's Green Institute project. Ludwig said "they made it known there is a Plan B for gifting the building."
Committee member Chuck Zenner felt the position was warranted for the department to keep up with the extra maintenance and custodial duties it has acquired since 1985. He felt the county could see additional maintenance costs in the future if preventive measures are not taken now.
Lewis asked if the county should start looking at using more private contractors for maintenance issues to avoid increases in personnel costs to keep the full staff. Ludwig said the county already uses private contractors to some extent.
Committee member Fred Parent supported the restoration of the position to eliminate liability issues if county workers or the public are injured when the staff is working alone.
Legal services option
The committee began looking at options for filling the corporation counsel position, which is expected to open in April. Steve Anderson, who currently fills the position part-time, is the only candidate on the ballot in the spring election for the Rusk County Circuit Court Judge.
The committee debated the virtues of having another part-time corporation counsel versus an increase in the amount of time contracted for. The committee was told Anderson felt a half-time contract was still adequate, but county board chairman Jim Metz said there are questions from other departments about the timeliness of the work provided. Lewis and Zenner said the county could justify increasing the contract.
Either the county or Anderson has 60 days to opt out of the current contract. Lewis said it was prudent to begin looking at the issue before the results of the election are known. "Steve wants to stay until the last possible minute, but it may not be the best for us," Lewis said. Parent is also hoping the new corporation counsel may have some time to get up to speed with Anderson before he leaves.

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