By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The East Troy Village Board Monday night approved full-time hours for two part-time employees.
At Police Chief Alan Boyes’ recommendation, the board approved the promotion of Officer Joshua DeMeino from part time to full time.
DeMeio has worked for the village since December of 2013.
“He is an extremely competent and professional young officer,” Boyes wrote in a memo to the board. “He has completed field training with the Village of East Troy Police Department and been working solo patrol since March to cover shifts.”
Boyes wrote in his memo the reason for his request was due to Officer Jacob Buer leaving the Police Department to take a position with Caledonia Wisconsin Police Department.
“With an officer out on injury for an undetermined amount of time, insuring adequate staffing levels are maintained, with part-time staffing is problematic,” he wrote in his recommendation.
The board also approved moving Department of Public Works employee Ken Zess from part-time to full-time status at the recommendation of DPW Director Mike Miller.
Miller wrote in his recommendation memo that soon-to-retire staff and the need to train someone in operations such as snow plowing, he wanted to be proactive about having someone in place in advance and not to be “forced into hiring an employee that may not work out.”
Miller’s memo told the board he didn’t want to be caught without adequate staff to maintain the level of service the community expects from the department.
“DPW has staff that is approaching a retirement age, we are trying to think outside the box and be proactive when it comes to employee replacement,” Miller wrote. “I feel we deliver an excellent service to our community and residents. DPW feels the need to continue this service; we need excellent and capable employees to achieve this goal.
Trustee Ann Zess, who is related to Ken Zess through marriage, recused herself from the discussion and vote and left the room while the matter was handled, returning for the remainder of the board meeting after the vote.
Airport upgrade
The board approved the East Troy Airport’s request to update its Airport Automated Weather Observing System.
“It’s their money,” said President Randy Timms. “I think we should let them do it. We should have the best AWOS possible.”
At the April 28 meeting, the board approved $6,500 for the project, but increased the amount to $7,400 Monday night to pay for a new thunderstorm sensor and present weather sensor.
The total cost of the new AWOS installation is expected to be around $125,000 for the airport, but the village is only responsible for 5 percent of that.
