Supervisors direct staff to combine GIS and zoning duties into assistant engineer job description

The Crawford County Board of Supervisors directed staff to craft a combined job description that would add geographic information system (GIS) maintenance and county zoning-administrator responsibilities to the assistant county engineer role.

Tim (county staff) said he is willing to assume responsibility and that bringing GIS upkeep in-house would benefit the entire county — including township and city recordkeeping and E911 address data. “If it’s not kept up, it affects my day-to-day job, especially with the GIS system,” Tim said. He also reported parts of the county GIS are roughly three years behind in updates and that bringing responsibilities into a permanent assistant-engineer job would create continuity.

The board reviewed sample job descriptions from other counties and a draft provided by county HR consultant Chelsea and asked Tim to combine local needs with the sample language. The board asked staff to return a consolidated job description within a few weeks for formal approval and to explore whether existing outside payments for zoning services should be discontinued once county staff can perform the work.

Why it matters: County officials said updated GIS data improves E911 operations, helps locate field entrances and building permits, and supports more accurate public-facing mapping. Supervisors emphasized the value of written standard operating procedures to preserve institutional knowledge when personnel change.

Next steps: Tim will prepare a draft job description combining the county’s current responsibilities with the Webster County and Chelsea drafts; the board will consider the proposal and, if approved, incorporate ongoing GIS upkeep and zoning duties into an assistant engineer position and adjust vendor contracts and the IT budget accordingly.