Pulaski County appears to have reached a deal with its Highway Department’s head mechanic. He technically won’t be getting the pay raise he asked for, but he has agreed to an arrangement in which the county pays to rent his tools.
The idea was proposed during last week’s joint meeting of the county council and commissioners. It was seen as a way to keep the mechanic from leaving the Highway Department, without having to deviate from the pre-determined salary matrix, opening the door to additional wage demands.
Following the mechanic’s agreement, the county commissioners voted Monday to go ahead with the tool rental. But Highway Superintendent Terry Ruff still has to figure out how to work it into his budget. He said he thinks he has a line item specifically for equipment rental. “If we ever had to rent a piece of equipment or something like that, there’s at least money available where we can move it around,” Ruff said, “and it won’t be until the next council meeting, I guess, before we need to do that.”
He plans to fine-tune the arrangement before next month’s county council meeting.
