Airport manager will go to ‘casual’ status in 2024

County will rely on more part-time help as traffic numbers remain low

With an eye to the future, members of the Taylor County airport committee last week approved shifting the airport manager position from full time to a casual, part-time basis.

At the August 2, committee meeting, members approved the change to be effective in early 2024. While additional part-time help will be needed to keep airport operation steady, the change in employment structure is expected to save the county about $52,000 per year in wages and benefits.

Current airport manager Fred Ebert proposed the change as a cost savings measure for the county and in light of the reduced air traffic through the airport. He said the airport traffic dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and has still not recovered to previous levels. He said he did not project a large increase in future traffic at the airport.

In addition to saving money for the county, committee members looked to the future of how they would handle Ebert’s eventual retirement from the county. Before taking over as airport manager, Ebert was with the highway department for many years.

Ebert gave the example of the Merrill airport. He said the manager of that airport was part-time and ran a separate business repairing airplanes there. He suggested the county look to attracting someone like that who could have a repair business or flight school while also serving as manager.

“They can be our head guy here to make sure the other guys are taking care of the grounds,” Ebert said, making reference to the part-timer that helps with snow removal, grass cutting and other maintenance projects at the airport.

Airport committee chairman Chuck Zenner said in talking with the human resources department, they proposed moving Ebert to 110% of his current baseline hourly wage when the change occurs. Ebert would be expected to keep his hours to under about 1,000 a year. Typical fulltime employees work about 2,080 hours per year.

Human resources director Nicole Hager explained by keeping it correlated to the control point of the wage scale, it would provide guidance if the county were to do this model for other departments.

As a casual employee, the airport manager would not receive county benefits other than those required under state and federal law. Hager said that because the county previously paid into the Wisconsin Retirement System, they would continue to do so at the 6.8% of pay level.

“Do you think you can do this job in 1,000 hours?” asked committee member Mark Hoffman, Ebert replied that with the part-timers he felt he could. Committee member Sue Swiantek praised Ebert for bringing the plan forward. “I think it has been well thought out,” she said.

Rather than start the change immediately, committee members agreed to finish out the year with the current staffing level and then in January make the change.

In other business committee members:

  Were introduced to Scott Epperly who will be coming on board as an additional part-time employee at the airport. Epperly lives in the Stetsonville area and works at Central Wisconsin Airport where he is in the process of getting certifications as an airplane mechanic.

  Approved hiring a contractor to check the wall thickness of the fuel tanks to ensure they still meet code. The cost was estimated at about $2,930 to measure both tanks. The tanks are about 27 years old and require the testing as part of routine maintenance checks. If the tank does not meet standards the county will need to decide whether to repair them at the current location or shift the tank farm to another part of the airport. In either case, the county would be able to tap into federal and state funds with the county only needing to cover a small portion of the overall costs.