Lisbon City Council approved hiring an additional public works employee in a 4-1 vote, with council member Rick Scott dissenting.
Scott’s concerns were on the potential animosity with long time members of the Lisbon City Crew who might make less than a new employee hired by the city.
The approval came after a work session Oct. 9, outlining how much work staff on public works crew have been involved with.
City administrator Brandon Siggins said hiring this underground specialist was a way of finding a crew member with specialized training that will benefit the Lisbon communities.
One of the major projects the underground specialist would help the city tackle is a new water main project that the city will need to be working at over the next few years, adding a stretch of 4 inch water main from Jefferson Street to Chestnut Street.
“That could take anywhere between five to 10 years to complete,” Siggins said. “If we have someone helping to do that work for the main, we could save roughly $50,000 off the bill.”
Siggins said that the position would also help reduce the amount of overtime for staff by having someone designated to assist in the instances of water main breaks.
“I really feel that this could be a budget or money neutral hiring with the amount of work they’d assist with,” Siggins said.
The salary range is roughly $70,000 to $75,000 for the job.
Scott said the city was only three months into the new year and looking to add another position, requiring a budget amendment and impacting the city’s finances.
Council member Nathan Smith said looking at the math on paper, it makes sense, but as the city has discovered, several water main projects come with unexpected expenses.
Public works director Travis Bagby said having people with experience in handling water main breaks would be beneficial.
“I can’t be the guy digging, the guy in the hole and the guy watching on all these projects,” Bagby said. “Having someone else experienced in one of those roles helps the city.”
When the new public works staff member isn’t working on projects that deal with being underground, they would help city staff with other projects.
Mayor Doug O’Connor asked Scott what he would do for the water main projects.
Scott said he would rather bond for the projects with another contractor then tackle them with city staff.
Others noted that the city staff has been running lean compared to other staff in other cities, even as Lisbon has started to see slow growth.
“We’ve seen population grow in the city,” Siggins said. “If we want our city to continue growing, we need to start growing our public works department.”
Siggins said the city is starting to feel the impact of the Novak addition, and there are projects looking to develop to the west of the new sports complex.
Council member Sara Nost said she looked at the hiring of city staff no differently than she looks at choices she makes in her own home.
“If my family and I know we can tackle a project on own, we’ll do it to save money,” Nost said.