Ricketts highway co-supervisor; Smith to remain suspended

Having operated the last two months as an interim county highway co-supervisor and as the only working supervisor since late last month, Mike Ricketts was officially promoted at Monday's meeting of the Putnam County Commissioners.

Ricketts was named the interim co-supervisor on May 6, following the announcement that Clint Maddox had accepted another position.

He has been flying solo since late last month, when the commissioners voted unanimously to suspend co-supervisor Jim Smith indefinitely with pay.

In May, Ricketts was named to the interim position for a 30-day trial period, but the matter had not been revisited until David Berry made the motion to make it a permanent appointment on Monday.

Don Walton seconded the motion and it passed 2-0. Commissioner Nancy Fogle was absent for health reasons.

Smith was suspended on Friday, June 28 for undisclosed reasons.

Some members of Smith's family were in attendance at the Monday meeting and asked if a decision had been made regarding his employment.

County Attorney Jim Ensley said the matter was still under investigation.

While highway matters were being addressed, Walton said he had been questioned by residents about the possibility of lowering the speed limit on Manhattan Road in the Limedale area.

Walton and Ricketts discussed the matter briefly, but no official action was taken.

The question of road striping both in the Limedale area and on the Bainbridge-Roachdale Road was also addressed. Ricketts advised that in the case of Bainbridge-Roachdale Road, the striping would be completed following chip and seal work later this summer.

Ricketts requested and was granted permission to move one of his truck drivers to an operator position, as well as filling his three open driver positions. These are all budgeted positions and therefore involved no new money.

The county council granted the same requests to the highway on Tuesday.