By HOLLY GASKILL
After a brief debate, the Wells County Council took a step back from a potential title and job description change in the Health Department.
Council member Brandon Harnish presented a drafted job description and title for the department’s administrative role during the council’s meeting Tuesday evening. Harnish said Auditor Lisa McCormick had presented him with inconsistencies of the language in the county’s salary ordinance regarding the job title, which sometimes uses the term “administrator” and sometimes “deputy administrator.”
This confusion between titles, Council member Vicki Andrews confirmed, had also been present during the Jan. 10 hearing for the health officer’s removal.
Harnish argued that the position completed all duties of a regular administrative position and had no elected role to be deputy under, as with other county roles. Subsequently, he proposed amending the language of the role in county documents. Sahara Wall has officially taken over the position from Marlene Hoag, who served as interim since July 2023.
“Why isn’t there anyone here from the Health Department?” Council member Scott Elzey asked.
Elzey noted that the document Harnish presented to the rest of the council contained edits to the job’s description, involving a level of involvement beyond a title change. Regardless, Ezley believed a representative from the department and Health Board needed to be present for such a change.
“This was done in cooperation with the auditor and in cooperation with the Health Department, but I have no objection if we want to push pause and let the Health Department come in here and discuss this,” Harnish responded. He also advised the edits to the description had been largely clerical.
Council member Steve Huggins agreed with Elzey, adding, “They should be the ones creating this job description, not the County Auditor, not even the administrator themselves.”
Commissioner Jeff Stringer, who was present for another item on the agenda, said determining job titles and descriptions was the responsibility of the local health officer.
The council later discovered the title change would require passing an amended salary ordinance.
The group agreed to revisit the matter at their next meeting, 7 p.m. on March 5.
Also during the meeting, the council unanimously approved a $3,000 stipend for the role of Americans with Disabilities Coordinator, recently filled by Building Manager Bobbie Studebaker. Stringer explained that the commissioners wanted to compensate for the additional responsibilities and training and had approved doing so from their budget on Monday.
The council also approved an amended interlocal agreement with Adams County for the contracted work of their new engineer and Wells’ former, Nate Rumschlag. Council member Seth Whicker said there had been some slight differences between what either county had previously approved, and this amended version removed the clause for automatic renewal after 90 days.
Council approved this amended agreement 6-1; Harnish, Huggins, Ezley, Whicker, Andrews and council member Brian Lambert voted in favor, and council member Todd Mahnensmith voted against.
Stringer advised there had been progress in their hiring process, and the commissioners hoped to fill the vacancy soon.
The council also approved an additional appropriation of $748,083 to the commissioners for utility extensions to the new Highway Department building. This uses the remainder of ARPA funds allocated to the county, said Commissioner Blake Gerber.
holly@news-banner.com
