Employees give Howard County low marks

Also, county plans brine operations this winter, adopts new policies

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Howard County’s employees aren’t satisfied with their pay, benefits, or leadership. That was the message that emerged from an employee survey the county conducted in June.

Human Resources Director Kari Rennaker summarized the survey results as she presented them to the Howard County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 7. The exercise was designed to establish a baseline for employee satisfaction, and what it revealed was less than flattering.

Rennaker said that 162 of the county’s approximately 500 employees responded to the survey.

“This was intended to get a feel for employee satisfaction and to help zero in on any topics or specific areas that we might need to do a more detailed survey on, such as safety and security, employee benefits, mental health, etc.,” said Rennaker. “As expected, questions regarding benefits, paid time off, or salaries were rated low on a scale of one to 10.

“When we asked if your salary is competitive with other organizations with a similar position, 121 responses scored between zero and three, with zero being ‘strongly disagree.’ We asked two questions in regard to leadership in the county, including elected officials, department heads, and supervisors. Results for both questions show that approximately 80 respondents felt that leadership performance and response to issues could be better.”

The survey also asked employees to identify what they most enjoyed about working for Howard County. They identified their co-workers, flexibility, serving the public, and teamwork as highlights. Rennaker requested that the commissioners permit additional surveys to try to better identify areas in need of improvement, as well as to allow county employees to be heard and valued.

Howard County Commissioner Jack Dodd was non-committal to approving further surveys, and the board took no action on the matter.

“I don't think we've got time to really look through it,” said Dodd. “I’d just like take it under advisement.”

Brine coming to county streets

The Howard County Commissioners approved the purchase of two sprayer units for the application of brine on county roads this winter. County Highway Superintendent Amber Tolle made the request to purchase the units at a cost of $67,644.

Applying brine before snow or ice accumulates makes snow removal easier, according to Tolle.

“We're pretty excited to start our brine operations,” said Tolle. “I know it will make the county much more efficient in our snow removal. We do have a deal worked out to actually make brine this winter before our salt barn is built so that we can start learning the process. It is going to be a pretty steep learning curve to use brine most effectively on county roads.”

Other commissioner actions

In other board activity, the commissioners established a fund to receive READI grant money from the state to fund the countywide broadband internet project currently underway. Commissioners Jeff Lipinski explained that BerryIT is nearly finished installing the fiber optic "ring" that stretches across the county, and that hooking in residents will begin once that is complete sometime in September.

The commissioners also adopted new names and numbers associated with political precincts which were redrawn last year and established a parking permit policy for jurors and prospective jurors visiting the courthouse.

Prior to the construction of parking garages downtown, a similar policy existed, which would exempt citizens serving the court from accruing parking tickets downtown. The City of Kokomo largely stopped enforcing parking after the garages were complete, but resumed regular enforcement this year, necessitating the policy's reintroduction.

A new policy for disclosing conflicts of interest for county officials and employees was adopted during the commissioners' meeting, and the board accepted a settlement agreement between the county and Emerald Green Solar.

The solar energy provider asked for judicial review of a board of zoning appeals denial for rezoning of thousands of acres of land in eastern Howard County last year. However, the company made a second application which was approved by the zoning board, making the judicial review irrelevant. The county and the company agreed to dismiss the request and drop any associated claims.