Sparta Searching For Water, Sewer Plant Operators

Sparta currently taking applications for two operator positions at the city’s water and sewer plants.

Mayor Jerry Lowery said both positions opened after employees resigned to work for other municipalities. Lowery said the city would prefer to hire someone with the proper certifications but the city can pay for that training if necessary.

“It happens everywhere,” Lowery said. “You get someone, you bring them in, you train them, they get certified in these positions, now they’re certified, they can make more money somewhere else, and then they move on. And then we go back to (the) drawing board again and then try, then we’ll go through the same process again. So sometimes it’s just a catch twenty-two, but it’s something that we need to do, we got to have.”

Lowery said the city will take applications over the next several weeks and start reviewing candidates after that. Lowery said he does not expect to see any major impact with either department in the meantime.

“The only downfall will be some of the current workers might have to work an extra load because that’s got to be manned twenty-four seven, some of the water issues” Lowery said. “So they might have to man another on-call weekend or something like that but once we get it settled in we’ll get into rotation and then we’ll be good to go.”

Lowery said dealing with resignations like these is a normal part of managing the city’s workforce. Lowery said people often change jobs to find work that is closer to home, better paying, or has benefits more suited to their specific needs.

“Maybe by the next board meeting they’ll do the interviewing process and things like that and then bring somebody to recommend to hire,” Lowery said.