The Wadena County Board of Commissioners built a sort of ballpark for themselves Tuesday at the Wadena Courthouse.
Now the idea, borrowing a famous line from Kevin Costner's 1989 movie "Field of Dreams" is that "they will come."
The board took some meaningful steps in its search for a county coordinator by defining and approving some parameters advertising the position.
Intent on looking for someone first from the ranks of county employees, the board decided to post the job internally. They also decided the coordinator's job, if filled by a department head, would work on a 60-40 split of their working time, with 60 percent dedicated to their department duties and 40 percent to their coordinator duties. The job would be advertised at Grade 60 with a Step range between five and 20. To help the process along, the board approved hiring DDA Human Resources Inc. effective Feb. 6. DDA's tentative timeline for the selection process would see the board interviewing and picking a candidate March 14.
A market analysis, carried out by DDA at the request of Commissioner Jim Hofer, found full-time county coordinator salary ranges in six of Wadena's neighboring counties averaged from $83,674.40 in Todd to $140,192 in Otter Tail. Hubbard County, with a population of 20,718, roughly 6,000 more than Wadena, had an actual average salary of $108,670 for the position.
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Wadena would not pay a full-time salary for the coordinator position if a suitable candidate was found in the county ranks. DDA's information was useful in determining what a Wadena coordinator's salary might be by going off a portion of a neighboring counties full-time coordinator salary. The highest salary for the Wadena coordinator position (Grade 60, Step 20) would be $115,273.60.
County Engineer Ryan Odden gave up the reins of temporary supervisor for the Auditor/Treasurer Department to County Human Resources Director Curt Kreklau at the recommendation of the Personnel Committee. Odden was given the job since last September. He was given the job of supervising the A-T Department's employees while Auditor-Treasurer Judy Taves was under investigation for grievances filed by the Teamsters Local representing county employees.
• The board approved a yearly Help Desk fee of $55,992 by Marco for computer support services.
• The board approved the State of Minnesota Voting Equipment Grant Agreement. The county was awarded $35,539.03 for O.S. Counters/Assisted Voting Devices.
