Supervisors Discuss New Wage For County Road Workers

On Tuesday, the Antelope County Supervisors eliminated "guaranteed" overtime for county road workers and changed their wages.

The current wage policy for county road workers is a 40 hour work week with 5 guaranteed hours of overtime, which is paid as time and a half. These overtime hours were paid regardless of vacation, holiday or sick time. 

The supervisors voted to change the policy, cutting the guaranteed overtime. This would change their hours from a 45 hour work week to a 40 hour work week with paid time and a half for overtime. However, the overtime pay will no longer apply to holiday, vacation or sick time. 

To compensate for this cut in pay, the county supervisors voted to increase their hourly rate to match what workers are currently making. These changes will go into effect on July 1, 2015. 

Other items discussed at the meeting dealt with safety issues in county road ditches. One of the concerns is that crops are often being planted too close to the side of the road, causing visual obstruction at intersections. This could also be dangerous when wildlife cross the road, giving vehicles less reaction time.

There is also some worry about irrigation systems spraying water on the roads, creating hazards as well as windrows of grass accumulating while mowing ditches.

The supervisors wished for public attention to be drawn to the issues so our county roads remain a safe place for people to travel. 

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