Granton in need of clerk, waterworks operator

By Valorie Brecht The Village of Granton is now looking to fill not one, but two full-time positions. Jared Thomas, the village’s waterworks/utility operator who’s been with village since 2018, has announced his intention to resign as soon as the end of May. The village has already been without a clerk-treasurer since January, after going through two clerk-treasurers in the span of 14 months.

Thomas has been taking on the clerk-treasurer duties as much as he can while still doing the waterworks job, which is a full-time job in and of itself. The waterworks/utility operator job includes regularly testing the village’s water supply and reporting the results, checking water meters, flushing hydrants, and making repairs to the water system as needed. However, this person is also called upon to assist the wastewater operator for two-person tasks, as well as do any number of jobs around the village as needed, including street cleaning and snow removal,

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cemetery and park maintenance, brush pickup or branch removal after a storm, mowing, pothole repair, and vehicle maintenance. The waterworks/utility operator is also required to be on call should an emergency arise such as a water main break.

In addition to the aforementioned duties, Thomas said at the last village meeting that he was spending an additional 27-30 hours a week on the clerk-treasurer position. That position includes issuing tax and utility bills to residents, paying village expenses, keeping track of the village budget, preparing for the annual audit, creating and publishing meeting agendas and minutes, and serving as the main point of contact for the village. Thomas said this position could be split into two 20-hour positions if the village wanted to do it that way.

The Village of Granton advertised for the clerk-treasurer position earlier this year and is currently running an ad for the waterworks/utility operator for two weeks in multiple local publications. The village board has not discussed in open session what factors might be contributing to the turnover or what tactics they might use to better recruit and retain employees. The board planned to interview two candidates for the clerk-treasurer position this week.

The next village board meeting will be May 14 at 6:30 p.m. It is open to the public.