The workload facing Allen Community College’s maintenance staff took center stage Tuesday as trustees debated whether to hire another staffer to handle the department’s administrative and clerical duties.
Trustees voted 4-2 — Vicki Curry and Jenny Spillman opposed — to hire an administrative assistant for the plant operations department after hearing from the department chief Ryan Sigg.
Sigg said crews have a stack of 117 work orders waiting to be completed. “It’s been staying at the 120 mark,” he noted.
Sigg acknowledged that number has been inflated because of two retirements on his staff over the summer.
But he also noted a slew of deferred maintenance projects are going to be tackled sooner or later, and with each project comes increasing layers of paperwork.
“A lot of things have changed,” Sigg said.
Curry was unconvinced.
“When Ryan first came here he didn’t have an assistant,” Curry said. “He has one now. We’ve added so many employees recently, I don’t think we can afford any more.”
The other trustees disagreed.
Sigg estimated he spends upwards of 15 to 20 hours a week handling paperwork and clerical duties, on top of the added hours he’ll stay at the end of each day to ensure high-priority work is completed in a timely manner.
Hiring an administrative assistant, whose office will likely be in the new maintenance building, will free up Sigg’s time to handle other tasks, Trustee Corey Schinstock said.
Trustee Jessica Thompson noted many of the projects funded with state and federal monies must be properly documented, which adds to Sigg’s workload, and increases the potential for errors.
“If the procurement process is not followed like it’s supposed to be, we could have that funding taken back,” she warned.
Trustee Becky Nilges noted the ACC campus was built in 1970 with seven custodians and maintenance workers. Now, with several extra facilities to take care of, that crew stands at 12.
“I was amazed that after we added all of those buildings, we’ve only added five personnel,” Nilges said.
Nilges, Thompson and Schinstock were joined by Gena Clounch and Jenny Spillman voting in favor of hiring the employee.
