The Washington County Board of Commission voted to give pay increases to poll workers at its meeting Wednesday morning.

The Washington County Board of Elections met and decided to increase the pay, but it also had to be approved by the commission, as per the secretary of state.

Karen Pawloski, deputy director, said the pay hasn’t been increased in several years. She said they did an analysis of counties similar to Washington County and averaged the pay out.

She explained how each group of workers will be paid.

Entry level poll workers, called judges, are currently being paid $101.50 per day and their pay will be increased to $113, an 11.33 percent increase.

Leaders for each precinct are paid $111.50 per day, which was increased to $123, a 10.32 percent increase.

Each of the 13 voting location managers, people who oversee the entire voting location, are paid $115.50 per day and it was increased to $135, an increase of 21.08 percent.

“These people are dedicated folks,” Pawloski said, noting the election board wanted to give them pay raises this year, but wanted to see how 2020 panned out first.

“After the last two years that we’ve had elections, they definitely deserve it,” she said.

The pay for the two training sessions for each poll worker will also increase from $10 to $20 per session.

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David Brown, a member of the board for the Southeast Ohio Broadband Cooperative, met with the commission to request funding for “the renovation of backhaul components of the network.”

The request was for $47,533.23 from American Rescue Plan Act money.

In the request, the cooperative board said “after inheriting the former Smart Networks/Serenity equipment, many undisclosed and unknown issues and problems have been discovered. This request is for the renovation of the backhaul components of the network that are impacting speed and reliability.”

It said subscribers connected to towers that are not fiber backbone linked, such as Highland Ridge and Beebe, are experiencing slow access speeds, dropped connections and degraded service. The frequency issues are a result of combined poor planning and failure to adapt to changing conditions.

The ethernet issues are the result of improper installations, primarily tower cable, failed equipment and emergency repairs that were not followed up with permanent corrective actions, the request noted.

After discussion about the effects of the issues on subscribers and some of the actions taken that made the issues worse, the commissioners approved the request.

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Dates to Remember:

¯ Courthouse closed today for Veterans Day.

¯ Devola sewer public meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday at WSCC.

¯ Regular commission meeting, 9 a.m. Thursday, courthouse annex.

¯ Bid opening for Transit RFP, 10 a.m. Thursday, commission office.

¯ Regular commission meeting, 9 a.m. Nov. 24, courthouse annex.

¯ Courthouse closed Nov. 25 for Thanksgiving.

Source: Washington County Commission Clerk.