Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors met in a special session Monday, Oct. 6, and discussed creating permanent assistant foremen within the county road department, directing staff to prepare a written job description and return to the board for review.

The proposal, presented by county staff, would not add a new headcount but would add an assistant-foreman job description on top of existing maintenance-worker duties. The intention is for assistants to handle payroll checks, document work in assigned quadrants, and fill in for a foreman when the foreman is absent. The board also voted, by roll call, to go into closed session under Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(c) to discuss litigation strategy.

Why it matters: the change would shift day-to-day responsibilities in the road crews, affect who signs work orders and checks payroll in the field, and carries modest recurring payroll cost if the board approves the proposed pay premium.

County staff said the assistant role would not replace a foreman; rather, it would reassign some duties that had been handled by a foreman. "It would not be a new position. It would be an addition to current goals and responsibility that the person has," a county staff member said. Staff said the assistant would be the on-site lead only when the foreman was absent; otherwise the foreman would remain the person in charge of work orders and discipline.

On compensation, staff proposed a $2-an-hour premium for the assistant designation, which staff estimated would amount to roughly $4,000–$6,000 per year after overtime. Staff also reported current maintenance-worker pay at about $29.92 per hour. The proposed premium and the overtime estimate were presented as staff estimates rather than a finalized budget line.

Supervisors asked for protections if the trial did not work, and about the limits of the assistant's authority. One supervisor cautioned that granting extra responsibility without extra authority can make daily operations difficult; multiple board members asked that any job description clarify the chain of command and disciplinary limits. Staff proposed an internal posting (about 10–14 days) and a target of having assistants in place by mid-November if the board approves the job description and related HR steps.

Board members named employees who would supervise assistants in different areas: Josh and Mitch were identified as foremen who would oversee assistants in their respective territories. Staff mentioned other employees by first name (Bud, Brandon) and said internal review and training would be part of any rollout. The county staff member told the board, "I'll write a whole job description; a paper on it might help," and said staff would meet with foremen and the workers to set expectations and review the arrangement after a trial period.

No formal vote to create or adopt the job description was recorded during the special session. Instead, the board directed staff to work with Human Resources, finalize a written job description that defines duties, authority and review points, post it internally, and return to the board for final action. Staff and supervisors discussed a trial, performance check-ins and the option to rescind the assistant designation if it proved unworkable.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the meeting agenda by motion and second (voice vote recorded as "Aye"); later the board approved a motion to enter closed session under Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(c) (roll call: Supervisor Bob Gallant — yes; Supervisor Gina — yes; Supervisor Watts — yes); the meeting adjourned at 9:56 a.m. following a motion and second.

The board’s next steps are to receive the written job description and any HR analysis and to consider final approval at a future meeting.