Ortonville- The Department of Public Works has had its share of upheaval in the past several months, including numerous pieces of broken equipment and the recent reduction of the crew from three men to two.
However, Village Manager Ed Coy says he believes it is ‘going pretty well with two employees,? and during the Jan. 28 village council meeting a 3-person committee was formed to evaluate all DPW equipment and determine the value of what is owned.
‘We can’t keep going the way we have been,? said Council President Ken Quisenberry. ‘We can’t tell if (the equipment) is broken for good reason or because of misuse.?
Councilmembers Dan Eschmann, Harold Batten and Mary Kassuba comprise the committee, and Quisenberry hopes to hear their evaluation in two weeks.
Coy says the two remaining DPW employees have been kept busy pushing snow around and have also worked quite a bit of overtime, but are getting the job done without a lot of problems and delays. This past week, one employee had 15-and-a-half hours of overtime, while the other had seven hours of overtime.
‘I am satisfied with the way it has gone so far,? Coy said.