A slimmed-down county road department, in the final stretch of its summer paving projects, has not spent as much overtime as some expected this peak season. Roadmaster John Rowe attributes it to better planning.

“We have a lot of projects in the works,” Rowe said. “We are trying to use the best management practices we can. We’ve been planning our jobs better.”

All paving is slated to be finished by early October, making way for winter slide repairs, grading, brushing and culvert cleaning.

The road department plans to lay almost twice as much asphalt, with the budget allotting $1 million compared to $500,000 last year, according to figures provided by County Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean. 

Between May and August road employees logged 241 comp and overtime hours laying tar. Last year, over a five-month stretch, crews put in 227 extra paving hours, which was up dramatically from 30 in 2007 and 8 in 2006.

In 2007 and 2008, Stufflebean said, there were fewer paving projects scheduled because all the funding was going toward paying a bloated staff.

The difference now is there is only half the staff to absorb the extra hours.

In 2006, the road crew had 51 workers, which dropped to 38 in 2008, and now is down to the current crew of 18.

To make sure the work gets done, employees haven’t been allowed to schedule vacations during peak summer months.

“We typically see an increase in overtime hours during paving season because we have to cram everything into a short period,” said Stufflebean, who served as interim roadmaster last year. “That’s the nature of the business.”

While regular overtime hours, not designated for paving, are only slightly up from last year, the county has already spent double the  money on them. Already this summer $14,398 has been spent funding overtime, compared to $7,364 in 2008.  Stufflebean said that is because many of the newer employees, who make less money, were the ones to get laid off in January. So, now the county is paying overtime to employees that earn a higher hourly rate.

For at least the past seven years, the department has budgeted $36,000 a year for overtime.

Overtime is typically worked on a volunteer basis, with the exception of paving, when employees are required to stick around.

Employees used to have the option to either get overtime pay or comp time, which would allow them to save hours for vacation. But because it was costing the county more money, comp hours are now limited to manager approval only.

During the winter, when it’s more a matter of storm maintenance than improvement projects, overtime takes a plunge.

“During the winter, we do things like cleaning ditches, repairing slides, and clearing roadways so the sun hits,” Rowe said.

Come October and early November, the department will start making slide repairs on North Lake Road in Lakeside, Daniels Creek Road and Sandy Creek Road.

The board of commissioners recently approved the $98,750 purchase of a new milling machine, a tool used to level and improve roads. Rowe considers the purchase to be part of the best management practices he is working on, because it saves on material costs and labor.

“It will pay for itself in about three years,” he said.