The Starke County Council members discussed raising the pay for part-time drivers at the Highway Department.
Highway Superintendent Dan Dipert explained to the council members Monday afternoon that he is now five drivers short and wants to be sure he has employees available for snow plowing when there is accumulating snow. He mentioned to the commissioners that he has planned priority routes and secondary routes for the current staff, but he would like to be sure that the residents are adequately served with more staff members.
The current pay is $14.50 an hour, which Dipert said is not enough.
The council members did not want to start newly hired part-time drivers out at a higher rate than what full-time CDL drivers start at now which is $17.66 an hour, so they agreed to create a range of pay of $8.50 to $17.50 an hour, depending on if the employee has a CDL or if they could simply operate a pick-up truck with a plow for use in subdivisions with a regular, valid Driver’s License. That would be determined at the discretion of the highway superintendent.
The range of pay was approved by the council with a unanimous vote.
