Jay hires three new employees

On Monday, Nov. 4, the Jay Town Council discussed the recent hiring of three new employees and how the chain of command will change with them on board.

The town hired three out of five candidates interviewed to work in maintenance for the town, each with a special ability that will help the town with maintenance.

The new employees are Brandon Haveard, Tony Howard and Ronald Witt.

According to Jay Operations Manager Eric Seib, candidates were individually strong in maintenance, equipment operation, pipeline and sewer operation and will be cross-trained and bring Trent Flowers, a town employee, in to make a strong group of four and five with Alicia.

Town Hall discovered a leak prior to the council meeting and the water line had to be repaired.

“We could not have made the repair we made tonight without the additional support that we have here now,” said Jay Mayor Shon Owens. “If we had only had the current people in place, we probably would've been here all night. Cooter Browns was down here wondering if they should close, but because their water was turned back on, they were able to continue to operate. It's an example of having these guys here this first day. I think this will eliminate some of the things we had to pay out of pocket throughout the calendar year to do things like change oil in all our equipment. Now we have the man power to do it. We see some savings with the people we have here.”

Seib said they can save on landscape maintenance by having the town employees do the work and maintain the equipment and do away with the contract they had with an outside business.

Water and Wastewater Superintendent Alicia Johnson is out in the town every day and can determine what projects need to happen daily Seib said, which will free up Seib to work on other projects. “There's a lot that needs to be done, but it needs to be laid out in detail for everybody to be productive and not necessarily waiting for someone to tell them what to do,” said Owens. “My opinion with Alicia is she's got a lot of training, a lot of experience, she's been in those positions, and she is out and about. I think it is beneficial for her to be able to make sure that those projects are being done and report back to Eric that they are being one in a timely manner.”

Council members discussed chain of command and Mayor Owens wanted to make sure it is clear who does what and who is responsible for what. He suggested the council come back to the next meeting with an understanding of what the council envisions and then decide if that makes sense.

Councilwoman Nina Hendricks said the job description and checklist needs to be well thought out and thorough for Johnson and the town to benefit, which council members agreed with.

The next council meeting will be at 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 18, at Jay Town Hall.