CROTHERSVILLE

Street, sewer and wastewater employees in Crothersville typically help each other out.

In an effort to lay out the responsibilities and make sure all work gets done, the town council recently decided to divide one of the superintendent jobs into two.

Before, Chris Mains oversaw the street and sewer departments. Now, Mike Deaton will assume the role of street superintendent, and Mains will take care of the sewer superintendent duties. Mason Boicourt will remain in his position as wastewater superintendent.

Deaton’s pay will bump up to $17 now and then $18 in January when other town employees also will see a pay increase.

Boicourt said he, Mains and Deaton all were on board with the changes.

“I know Mike is all about bettering himself, and I think Chris is all about not having as much responsibility,” Boicourt told the council.

Council President Danieta Foster was all for the changes, too.

“I think a lot of the responsibility of the street department has been neglected, and that’s why we need him, and it’s going to take a lot,” she said of promoting Deaton.

“That’s what Chris was OK with because he was going to have less on his plate,” Boicourt said.

One of Deaton’s duties will be overseeing mowing and summer help. Boicourt said he could continue to take care of the mowing at the sewer plant, but Deaton could ensure mowing is done elsewhere in town, including at the parks.

“Nobody is really responsible to make sure that gets done. Nobody has ever said, ‘Hey, you’re in charge of the mowing crew.’ It has just kind of been the street superintendent,” Boicourt said.

“You work together, but you really need somebody in charge of making sure everything gets done,” Foster said.

That led to Boicourt and the council discussing the need for written job descriptions for the street, sewer and wastewater superintendents.

“It’s not that we want a description so that way, we can pass responsibility of things that we do normally onto somebody else,” Boicourt said. “It’s the fact that, ‘OK, you’re in charge. You tell me do you need help today?’ Then the next day, ‘Hey, I need help today, so you guys need to help me.’”

Foster said it’s all about being organized.

“I don’t think it will change the way the work gets done,” she said. “It will change the way the organization of the work gets done because things have gotten neglected because ‘Whose job is it?’ so we need to get together about that.”

Boicourt, Mains and Deaton will write their job descriptions and present them to the council to review and approve at the next meeting, set for 6 p.m. Oct. 2 at Crothersville Town Hall.

Another town employee, Roger Jewell, helps all three departments. He will continue to take care of the daily operations as Boicourt and Mains are out in the town doing work.