Tooele County Commissioners have allowed more time for the development of a restructuring plan that combines two departments and is intended to save money.
Six weeks ago the Tooele County Commission laid off the county’s entire building maintenance, and parks and recreation staff.
Dal Shields, building maintenance director, and Mark McKendrick, parks and recreation director, were retained by the commissioners and given 30 days to develop a plan to restructure their departments into a single one that will operate on a minimal budget.
Commissioners described the 30-day period as a “timeout.”
Forty-two days later and a plan for the new combined department is still under the commissioners’ review.
“Mark McKendrick, parks and recreation director, presented us with some information,” said Commissioner Shawn Milne. “His plan needed more data before we could act on it, so we gave him some more time to complete the plan.”
While waiting to see the final plan for the new department, commissioners have contracted with two individuals to keep the ball fields open at Deseret Peak Complex for the balance of this year. They also hired back three part-time workers to run the toll booth in Settlement Canyon and perform maintenance work on campgrounds in the canyon.
At the commissioners’ meeting tonight they will consider approving a contract with Tooele-based Hawks Janitorial Contracting to provide cleaning services for the county building, the road shop, the Tooele and Grantsville Senior Centers, and Deseret Peak Complex.
The summer operation of the pool at the Deseret Peak Complex is still undecided. A request for proposals to operate the pool closed yesterday at 5:30 p.m.
“The contract for cleaning services is only one part of what we hope will be a plan for operating the county’s facilities,” said Milne.