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<p>Luzerne County is trying to attract road and bridge heavy equipment operators by boosting the compensation, but some council members questioned if it will be enough.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re undermanned. That&#8217;s the bottom line here,&#8221; Councilman Robert Schnee said during last week&#8217;s road and bridge department budget discussion.</p><p>The subject came up when Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck asked why the department had only spent half of this year&#8217;s nearly $619,000 allocation for union wages through the end of September.</p><p>County Engineer Lawrence Plesh said the department of 21 staffers currently has 12 vacancies, mostly heavy equipment operators.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re hoping that will change this year,&#8221; said county Operational Services Division Head Edmund O&#8217;Neill, citing a pay increase.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri said the starting compensation for equipment operators was raised to $30,000 about three months ago following negotiations with the AFSCME union.</p><p>Before this change, the position had been advertised at $25,550, which was in the $12.47-per-hour range, according to personnel reports. The equipment operators must hold a commercial driver&#8217;s license and help repair and plow the county&#8217;s 128 miles of roads and 300 bridges, officials said.</p><p>&#8220;The goal is to hire every single position here. We&#8217;ve had a hard time getting applicants for this job,&#8221; Pedri said, noting the position has been regularly advertised.</p><p>O&#8217;Neill said he the administration is reviewing several applications received through a recent posting of the position at the new $30,000 compensation.</p><p>Councilwoman Sheila Saidman inquired about the going pay rate for equipment operators outside county government. Plesh said they are probably making at least $30 an hour.</p><p>The insufficient staffing taxes county road crews &#8220;to the limit,&#8221; particularly when they must work long shifts during bad winter storms, Plesh said. Finding outside contractors to help with plowing in an emergency has been difficult, he said.</p><p>&#8220;The state&#8217;s in the same boat. They&#8217;re looking to hire guys, and we&#8217;re competing with them &#8212; and they&#8217;re offering more,&#8221; Plesh said.</p><p>Many county roads are more challenging to clear than main highways because they are in rural areas with fields on both side and frequent snow drifting, Plesh said. The county also was forced to retain an outside contractor to help with pothole patching this year, he said.</p><p>Councilman Harry Haas suggested shrinking the number of road and bridge employees so the compensation could be raised significantly more.</p><p>But Council Vice Chairwoman Jane Walsh Waitkus said reducing positions doesn&#8217;t make sense because the county has so much infrastructure that must be maintained throughout the county. Further increasing workloads is &#8220;too much to ask for working people,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Pedri said he does not believe the union would support cutting positions, even with a pay increase for the remaining jobs. He suggested holding off to consider further options, saying he wants to monitor the impact of the higher pay on staffing levels.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL101719Luzerne-County-Courthouse1-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL101719Luzerne-County-Courthouse1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County struggling to attract heavy equipment operators