MERCER COUNTY Soil at courthouse will increase costs

Anyone interested in the fiscal director's job can send a r & eacute;sum & eacute; to the courthouse.
BY MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER -- Forget the phrase dirt cheap.
County officials have learned the soil surrounding the courthouse is not compact enough to support a new, wider driveway and must add $40,000 more to the courthouse renovation contract for removal of the old soil and its replacement with 1,600 cubic yards of new soil.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor said Thursday the old dirt included sand and some rubble dating back to construction of the courthouse.
Experts were concerned it was not compact enough to support the weight of delivery trucks on the new widened driveway on the south side of the courthouse. She said the county was lucky to be able to dump the old dirt for free.
The construction, part of an extensive courthouse renovation project, will close the south entrance next week. It is expected to remain closed about a month. There will be no more after-hours access to the building, Administrative Director Bill Boyle said.
Handicapped access is available at the north entrance.
Vacant post: Commissioners announced that a new fiscal director may be hired by Dec. 15. The post is vacant because of the resignation earlier this month of Jeff Swartzbeck, who had the job four years.
Commissioners are seeking candidates. R & eacute;sum & eacute;s should be sent to the their office at the courthouse by Nov. 15.
In the meantime, Dennis Lieb, a Hermitage CPA, has been hired for 20 hours weekly to prepare the 2002 budget, which must be passed next month. Lieb has done prior consulting work for the county.
Roberta Leonard, who had been second in line to Swartzbeck and had taken on some of his duties in the interim, submitted her resignation Thursday because she is taking another job. Leonard said her departure is a career move and the new job is closer to home.
Swartzbeck said after the last meeting that he was given a choice to resign or be fired. Neither he nor commissioners would explain what precipitated the action.
Voting machine operators: Commissioners also approved a list of 59 voting machine operators for the Nov. 6 election.
Ralph Hillman was hired for $70 to drive election supplies to the courthouse on election night and to attend machine training.
Commissioners approved a reorganization of the Domestic Relations office that includes the hiring of Melissa Sparrow as a conference officer at $25,301. The position has been vacant since June. An additional position was eliminated and one created so the department still has 28 employees.
Also created were two additional part-time positions as house arrest officers in the Intermediate Punishment Program and one part-time assistant collections coordinator in the department.
Both actions were recommended by the County Prison Board. The two collections workers have brought in more than $1 million in court costs and fines and it is hoped that with the additional employee that can be increased.
Also hired was Marissa Farrone as temporary clerical assistant in the district attorney's office at $8,672 annually to replace an employee on leave.