At their Sept. 1 meeting, the Gila County Board of Supervisors approved revised pay plans for sheriff’s deputies and detention officers. The board also adopted a county road-safety plan and heard updates on a Pinal Creek cesspool replacement program and flood recovery projects.
The Sheriff’s Office is changing its pay plan for deputies to support recruitment and retention. The new plan gives deputies more incentives to take late-night shifts and will increase the county’s flexibility when hiring experienced officers. The changes took effect immediately.
The plan adds differential pay for deputies working less desirable hours. Captain Matthew Binney said late-night shifts are usually busier and statistically more dangerous, but it’s often the less experienced deputies who end up working them. The additional pay is intended to encourage experienced officers to take those shifts.
The plan will also allow the county to place experienced lateral hires at higher steps on the pay scale, rather than start them at a lower level that might not reflect their previous service.
The plan also increases the pay difference between supervisors and their subordinates from 8% to 10%, bringing the Sheriff’s Office into line with the rest of the county. It also updates the organizational chart to change the lieutenant to a captain on the patrol side, which is already the actual organizational structure.
The board also approved changes to the county’s pay plan for detention officers. Those changes allow some experienced hires to enter at higher steps and also increase the supervisory pay spread to 10%. Capt. Binney said a shift differential for detention officers might be considered in the future.
The supervisors also approved an agreement with Off Duty Management Inc. to coordinate outside employment for sworn staff. The arrangement allows deputies who have completed their county work obligations to take paid security and traffic control assignments at county infrastructure projects and for events within Gila County.
Under the agreement, county personnel will receive the first opportunity to accept work within the county, and unfilled openings would then be offered to other agencies, according to Capt. Cole LaBonte.
The arrangement is partly intended to make sure infrastructure projects can go forward without delays and that constituents can obtain the security they need to hold events, Capt. LaBonte said.
However, regular patrol coverage will take priority, according to Sarah White, Chief Administrative Officer at the Sheriff’s Office.
The board adopted the Gila County “Safe Streets for All” Safety Action Plan, making the county eligible for funding for road-safety improvements.
Gila County ranks as the eighth most dangerous county in the country for roadway safety. Residents and visitors who commented during community outreach said speeding, distracted driving, inadequate lighting and seasonal congestion were concerns.
Josh Beck, the county’s Director of Health and Emergency Management, pointed out that given Gila County’s low population, it only takes a few incidents in a year to increase the county statistics significantly.
The county has just completed a first-of-its-kind Arizona pilot program that replaced 13 cesspools near Pinal Creek with septic systems.
The $500,000 project was funded with remaining American Rescue Plan Act money allocated through the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
The county’s Environmental Health team started with a list of parcels near the creek, reviewed wastewater records to determine which parcels might be using cesspools, and then contacted eligible homeowners to let them know the benefits of switching from a cesspool to a septic system and request their participation in the program.
Engineering plans were created that provided alternative septic systems where necessary because of floodplain conditions and limited space.
The county has a longer list of properties that could be addressed if funds become available, which potentially could come from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority. The county also expects to help other Arizona counties develop similar programs.
Five flood-recovery projects are nearly complete, according to Public Works Director Matt Rencher. Russell Gulch and Ice House Canyon are each 99% complete, Copper Hills Road is 95% complete, Six Shooter Canyon is 92.5% complete and the hospital wall is 87.5% complete. All five projects are tracking under budget.
The work performed well during recent storms. Rencher said inspections of the Six Shooter and Ice House Canyon projects found they were functioning as intended and had prevented further damage.
The Board of Supervisors also approved the following actions:
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