County approves two upgraded environmental health positions to speed inspections

The Board of County Commissioners approved a change to the environmental health staffing plan that upgrades two positions to the environmental health scientist classification to allow the county to hire experienced, job-ready candidates.

Eric Edwards of the Health Department told the commission that the vacancies offer a rare opportunity to recruit candidates already licensed or job-ready and that the upgrade would let them begin inspections of pools, restaurants and wastewater facilities more quickly. Edwards said the department located funds within its current budget to cover the remainder of the year (he estimated the shortfall at about $3,500) and will list the positions as a prioritized item in next year’s budget.

Commissioners said the approach is consistent with prior practice of asking departments to find current-year funding and then include ongoing costs in next year’s budget. Unidentified Commissioner 1 said the request "is consistent with what we've done all year long" and supported authorizing the change. A motion to adopt the staffing change passed 3-0.

Edwards described the scope of environmental health scientists' work as including drinking-water sampling, food-safety inspections, response to complaints and other public-health protections that require licensure and specialized training.