Town of Pinedale sees employee turnover

By Holly Dabb hdabb@pinedaleroundup.com
Posted 8/29/19

New Airport Manager, Director of Public wWorks and Tourism Ambassador.

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Town of Pinedale sees employee turnover

Posted

A new airport manager was hired, the resignation

from Engineering and Zoning Director Hayley Ruland was

accepted, and Samantha Harnack is the new Travel and Tourism

Commission Ambassador in August for the Town of Pinedale.

Staffing changes were announced at the Aug. 26 council meeting.

Mayor Matt Murdock and council members Judi Boyce, Dean

Loftus, John Paravicini and Tyler Swafford were in attendance.

Director of engineering and zoning

Murdock announced he had received a resignation from Ruland,

who is going to work for Jorgensen & Associates.

Lora Hittle, a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission,

asked about the future hierarchy of the commission. There

were two vacancies on the five-person board, including the chairman’s

seat formerly filled by Darrel1 Walker and Nylla Kunard,

who is not eligible for reappointment after already serving two

terms. Boyce was already approved at the Aug. 12 council meeting

to fill Kunard’s seat effective Sept. 1.

Ruland typically assists the commission, calling meetings and

taking minutes. Her last day was Thursday, Aug. 29, and the next

Planning and Zoning Commission meeting was tentatively scheduled

for Tuesday, Sept. 3, at noon. However, it was canceled and

the next meeting will be Oct. 7. The new town liaison to the board

will be Spencer Hartman.

Murdock said those personnel issues were scheduled for an

executive session at the end of the meeting.

Following the closed executive session, the council went back

into open session and approved a motion to advertise for a “Director

of Public Works.”

Travel and Tourism Ambassador

Harnack, a part-time ambassador with the Pinedale Travel and

Tourism Commission, began Aug. 2, replacing Heidi Boehm. In

the past, the position was shared with a part-time receptionist

position in the town hall. The need to answer phones in town

hall and to help at the visitors center, created conflict with time

management and restricted needed public contact with the community.

To reach Harnack, contact samharnack@townofpinedale.us or

phone 307-367-4136.

Airport manager

Airport Manager Jim Parker announced his retirement earlier

in the year and the council budgeted to hire a new airport manager

with a couple months of overlap for some training. Jason Hart

from Illinois will start Oct. 1, according to Parker. He said the

new manager will attend an upcoming state conference in order

to meet some of the employees with the state of Wyoming and the

Federal Aviation Administration.

Parker said Hart was one of 19 applicants. Seven were selected

for a web-based interview. Five actually completed the interviews

and three visited Pinedale before Hart was hired.