Full-time foreman/laborer hired
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – The township supervisors hired a full-time street foreman/laborer Thursday after last month’s decision to re-advertise the position. Supervisors Janice Fosbrink, Tammy Mader and Donald Hann unanimously agreed to hire Roger Smalley at a starting salary of $10 per hour, with a four-month probationary period.
Mader said Smalley was one of five applicants for the position, for which the township received 20 applicants under the initial advertisement.
The position was held by former supervisor/roadmaster James Stoots, who resigned last April after six years of service.
Stoots, who recently moved back to the area, said at Thursday’s meeting that he applied for the position and questioned why he was not contacted for an interview.
As the township’s former roadmaster, Stoots said he was more than qualified for the position.
“I know the township roads and equipment better than anyone that applied for the job,” said Stoots.
Another person who applied for the position also stated that he was never contacted for an interview.
According to Gretchen Mundorff, the township is not required to interview each applicant for the job unless it was mentioned in the job advertisement or unless the township adopts an ordinance to that effect.
Hann said allegations were made against Stoots that he would not accept less than $15 per hour for the job, but Stoots said he filled in the figure on the application where it applied.
Hann added that another reason Stoots was not considered was because he never gave any notice of his resignation.
Stoots, however, said he used two weeks of vacation as his two-week notice the day he resigned.
In another personnel matter, the supervisors appointed Sally Stoots to fill the remaining term of vacancy board Walter Mickey, who resigned last month after 15 years in the position.
The supervisors also conducted the following business:
– Directed Mundorff to send a certified letter to a resident who has failed to tap in to sewer lines along Springfield Pike and who has a faulty on-lot system that is leaking raw sewage into the back yard. Mader said she visited the site earlier this week and deemed it a safety hazard, especially since the resident has children that are playing in the back yard.
– Heard from Dick Widmer, spokesman for Widmer Engineering Inc., regarding a sewerage project to Poplar Grove that the Bullskin Township/Connellsville Township Joint Sewerage Authority will undertake. Widmer explained the cost of the tap-in fee as well as the grants that are funding the project.
– Received a letter of resignation from sewage enforcement officer Mike Coughenour, who stated he is no longer available because of the significant number of municipalities for which he is responsible. Mader said she was instructed by Widmer to contact the Department of Environmental Protection to fill the position temporarily.
– Learned from Mundorff about a meeting between the township and South Connellsville Borough will be held May 16 regarding police protection.
– Asked that residents interested in serving on the planning commission submit a letter of interest to the supervisors or Commission Chairman Tom Fosbrink.