The Pine Bluff City Council Administration Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously to add two city positions, one for the Street Department and the other for the Community Development Department, during their scheduled meeting via Zoom.
Administration Committee Chair Lloyd Holcomb Jr., along with committee members Bruce Lockett and Glen Brown Sr. voted in favor of the legislation sending it to the full council with a "pass" recommendation.
A survey research assistant for the Street Department was the first position approved by the committee.
"This position is a position that will get a young person acclimated to the planned portion of the Street Department," said Tom Bennett, street department director.
Bennet said the individual would also operate the Global Informational System, or GIS, which will have the entire city and infrastructure mapped out.
"Their primary responsibility will be scanning and putting in place on a server the construction plans and getting all of our historical data and putting it on a digital format," said Bennett.
Duties include but are not limited to:
Measuring lengths and widths of streets for hot mix asphaltic concrete overlay program.
Mapping Pine Bluff's Stormwater Drainage System with accurate measurements transferred to scaled drawings.
Keep up-to-date and accurate zoning mapping.
Conduct accurate measurements on-site on all city streets and under the director's direction.
"This person will be groomed to understand the component of street repair and surveying and given a training path to replace our current research technician in the latter years," said Bennett, adding the current research tech has been with the city since 1982. "I don't see him being around another 15 years or 10 years."
Bennett said he wants to prepare the next person to fill those shoes and ailing the department to fit the technological needs of the future.
"I commend you on your efforts in preparing for the future and training the young people in the position," said Holcomb. "The Street Department is doing a good job."
Bennett said the salary for the new position is within their budget and even though the person is a potential candidate to be a research tech in the future, Bennett said the position is more about technology.
"The position is carrying this department to the next level," said Bennett.
The second position under Community Development is a public works director who will be responsible for the management of the city's infrastructure and supervision of all staff.
According to the job description, the public works director develops and implements long and short-term goals and objectives; oversees the maintenance of all city facilities; prepares solicitations for competitive bids, subject to approval by the mayor and city council.
Larry Matthews, director of economic development for the city, said this position is needed due to the approval of the restructuring of the Community Development Department, which was discussed at the last city council meeting.
"In order for the restructuring to go forward we will also have to approve this position," said Matthews.
The duties include:
Monitoring and overseeing the physical facilities of a local community or area.
Analyzing and assessing proposals of the public work staff, and evaluates projects against the budget.
Creating bid specifications and recommending specific vendors for projects.
Ensuring that all works are completed successfully by contractors, vendors, and other public staff members.
Planning, monitoring and directing employees' performance of routine maintenance of buildings and grounds and ensures that needed maintenance is performed as needed.
According to Matthews, the position will also assist in the preparation of contracts for professional consulting services for Public Works-related projects and other duties as assigned. This position will be supervised by the mayor.