City Seeks Candidate To Fill Future Vacancy

PRAIRIE GROVE — The city of Prairie Grove is in the process of hiring a new person to eventually take over the position of director of administrative services and public works.

Larry Oelrich has served in the city’s public works department for 40 years, starting in 1979 when he was 20 years old. Oelrich was appointed to his current position, director of administrative services and public works, at the age of 25, serving in that capacity since 1984.

Oelrich announced last year that he planned to retire in August 2020, and the city decided to hire his replacement early so the person could work alongside Oelrich before he retired.

Prairie Grove advertised the position and job description in several publications and received about 15 applications. Of these, seven candidates are being brought in for interviews with Oelrich and Mayor Sonny Hudson.

Oelrich last week said one candidate being interviewed is from Kansas and the others are from the northwest Arkansas and River Valley region.

The three-page job description for the position shows the person

is involved in all aspects of city government, including general oversight over City Hall, code enforcement and planning, public library, district court, buildings and grounds, water and sewer, solid waste and recycling, streets and drainage, parks, recreation and the Prairie Grove Aquatic Park.

The person would work with the Planning Commission, attend meetings, prepare agendas, meet with developers and review plans.

The person also would work with the community on special projects and committees to help promote Prairie Grove and be expected to represent the city on water related committees, boards and associations.

Hudson said he will be the one to make the decision on filling the position.

“We’re doing this a little unique to some things,” Hudson said last week. “We hope for a good transition so Larry can pass on information and make the person more comfortable in the job. We’re trying to make this the best transition we can.”

Hudson said the job description makes it appear the person would be working in a lot of different areas in city government but that’s not necessarily the case.

He noted that many areas have a foreman or supervisor who heads up a department with the director of administrative works and public works providing oversight.

For example, Prairie Grove has an office manager and operations foreman for its water department, along with a supervisor of water treatment and a supervisor for wastewater treatment. A foreman is over solid waste and the street department.

“We want the person to at least know all those areas, whether they do them or not because it will be under their responsibility,” Hudson said. “They may not always be hands-on but they need to know about them.”

Hudson said he will hire someone before the end of the year. The timing may depend on when a person would be able to leave their current position.

The salary range for the job is $85,000-$95,000.

Hudson

Oelrich