Athens County Commissioners will be cementing the job description for a new county planner at their Tuesday meeting
A few years ago, Athens County commissioners elected to move the county planner’s role out-of-house to cut costs, contracting the position with the Athens Soil and Water Conservation District as a result.
In July, Emily Carnahan took that job.
But on Dec. 30, Carnahan officially resigned from that position, after announcing she would leave office in early December.
In light of that decision and the commissioner’s previous hope that the position would eventually come back to county office, commissioners elected to move the position back to their control.
At Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting, officials will be cementing the job description for county planner so they can begin accepting job applications.
Athens County Commissioner Charlie Adkins said commissioners have not yet finalized what the position would cost the county, though 2015’s county budget draft has already been approved.
Adkins added he was confident the budget could sufficiently support the position and that commissioners had been waiting for a more robust budget to bring the position back.
Adkins said the county paid the Athens Soil and Water Conservation District around $85,000 a year for county planner services, which included the salary of assistants that aided Carnahan.
“We wanted to take (the position) back under our control after contracting it out the past few years, because financially we can do it again,” county commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
Adkins said Carnahan resigned with plans to return to her home in Kentucky, where she’s taken a job as a community development specialist.
“She was a person I didn’t really get to see often,” Adkins said. “We want to work closer with the planner, directly reporting to the commissioners. “
Adkins said he hopes the job description will be approved during Tuesday’s meeting.
Other topics to be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting include commissioners writing a letter of support to The Athens Conservancy, which is hoping to declare a piece of land for protection along a local bike path, funded by a Clean Ohio grant.
The Athens Conservancy has previously worked to protect land along the Hocking Adena Bikeway, and to create rail-trails connecting Athens with Belpre and the Moonville Rail Trail.
