3 county posts to get pay hikes Changes due in October for fire coordinator, 2 more

Published 12:29 pm Friday, July 6, 2012

Pay raises are on the way for the next fire coordinator in Warren County and two positions in which some of the job’s old duties will be handled.

The person hired to coordinate volunteer fire response will be paid $32,796 starting with the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, county supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday.

The environmental clerk will be paid $30,000, up $4,000; and the building permit field officer will be paid $30,500, up $3,500.

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The fire chief function paid $21,500 during the past two decades, though Kelly Worthy, who retired in May, also served as environmental officer since 1994, bringing his pay to $42,796.

The environmental job, which involves managing garbage pickup in the county and visits to residents about garbage matters, will be handled by the clerk, Katie Stanford, who has been working in the office for about two years.

The field officer, Reed Birdsong, is charged with driving around the county to inspect potential development sites. He has held the post for about six years.

Supervisors revisited the issue during a meeting convened Tuesday initially to start checking property tax rolls that had been approved Monday.

During Monday’s session, the board shot down the pay measure, 3-2. District 1 Supervisor John Arnold, who wanted to pay the field officer an extra $5,000, switched his vote to yes on Tuesday, joining supervisors Bill Lauderdale and Richard George.

“It was the next best option on the table,” Arnold said Thursday.

The fire coordinator organizes fire response from six volunteer fire protection districts outside Vicksburg. Three resumes were sent to the chancery clerk’s office in response to a public job posting. Monday is the deadline to apply. State law mandates counties fill the position with a certified firefighter from volunteer or municipal forces.

Also Thursday, supervisors reported the tax roll completely checked and were compelled by a few unexpected guests to vote on a garbage permit issue.

Billy Drake, operator of one of two remaining family-run garbage pickup services, was given until 9 a.m. Tuesday to turn over a list of customers or lose his permit.

In April, the board had given him 90 days to update his list of clients and balance his business account of surcharges paid to the county to stay compliant with state-set garbage disposal laws.

Stanford said Drake’s recent paperwork showed 377 addresses, but no names to go with them. Drake was accompanied Thursday by local attorney Marshall Sanders, garbage hauler Oscar Mayfield and a few customers of family-run haulers.

Permitted garbage-haulers outside Vicksburg are Drake, Mayfield, Waste Management, Earth Friends Environmental Services and Waste Pro of Mississippi.