Commission votes 2-1 to rehire

Bill Click has been rehired as county dog warden following his retirement in January.

Click started as the warden in January 1989 and retired on Jan. 26 with an hourly wage of $22.13.

Following a 10-minute executive session of the Lawrence County Commission on Thursday, commissioner Freddie Hayes made the motion to rehire followed by a second by commission president Les Boggs. Commissioner Bill Pratt was the sole nay vote.

According to Boggs Click will be rehired at 70 percent of his base salary, as if he were a new hire. That will be $25,655 or $12.34

The commissioners also hired Gary Criswell as the administrator of Union-Rome Sewer District, operating it as a Class 3 plant. Criswell was named interim administrator, following the death of Tim Porter. He will make approximately $70,000.

The commissioners also referred a contract and cost proposal from Shield Environmental Associates Inc. of Lexington for remediation work at the Lawrence County Airpark.

According to Bill Nenni of the airpark advisory board, underground storage tanks were removed, but all required remediation work was not done.

Now the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations is threatening to sue the county if the work is not completed.

“Without reviewing the 1998 tank system closure files, an accurate project cost estimate cannot be presented,” the proposal states. “It is not known if additional soil sampling will be necessary and to what extent this sampling will be required. Also in a worst case scenario, soil excavation, disposal and subsequent soil sampling may be required.”

The proposal offers three options depending on how severe the pollution is

The best-case scenario with no additional sampling could cost the county between $2,000 to $2,500; with additional sampling the charge would be $5,000-$7,500 and the worst-case scenario would be at least $25,000.

In other action the commission:

• Accepted the resignation of part-time paramedic Lance Johnson;

• Accepted the resignation of Kristi Spears from the department of job and family services;

• Received correspondence concerning the civil federal lawsuit filed by Larry Kinstler, a onetime inmate at the county jail, where the county insurance policy will pick up the settlement with the county’s only obligation the deductible or $25,000.