FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a job description for an assistant dispatch supervisor/ training officer and eliminated a utility dispatch position.
Commissioners voted to post the job in-house for 10 days.
They amended the original job description by adding the word “preferred” after the experience required to read a minimum of seven years experience with the last five years preferred with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay said there could be others outside the department who might want to apply.
He didn’t want the job description to look like it was tailored for one person, he said.
Chief Deputy Ray Meldrum said there are a number of people within the system who would be eligible to apply.
The position was created to help with a new state requirement to monitor and rate emergency calls each week. The job description will go to the union to be reviewed.The pay for the position won’t be set until the pay scale is reviewed, Meldrum said.

Air quality checked

Commissioners authorized Meldrum to have the air quality checked at the dispatch center, located in the Sheriff’s Department office.
A spokesperson for the dispatchers complained about the air quality in that area, which is separated by walls and glass from the other portion of the building.
“I think they have a good concern,” Meldrum said.
After being in the area for a while, eyes are watering and you get congested, he said.
When they are off for vacation, the symptoms disappear, he said.
“We checked the records and the air filters may have not been changed in December,” Sheriff Dennis Pike said.
The carpets have also not been washed since the building opened in the 1990s, he said. They are vacuumed twice a week.
In another matter, jail Administrator Sandra Collins gave an update on the changeover at the jail to a 72-hour holding facility. It goes into effect Wednesday. Starting Sunday, there will be 10 full-time employees working in two-person shifts, she said.
Four new positions have been created: a detention facility manager, a transportation supervisor, a utility/security officer and a custodian.
The county has received five applications for the manager, which needs to be filled before the other three are hired.
Commissioners also approved full-time status for Deputy Treasurer/County Clerk Charisse Keach, whose pay was increased from $14.40 an hour to $16.20; and custodian Greg Roux, whose pay was increased from $10.98 to $12.12 an hour. Both received rave reviews from supervisors.
dperry@sunjournal.com