Klaus named as city administrator/engineer
City of Bonners Ferry seal.
(Courtesy Photo City of Bonners Ferry)
BONNERS FERRY — The City Council voted to hire city engineer Mike Klaus to fill its open city administrator post at the Jan. 16 meeting.
Klaus will serve as both city administrator and engineer.
Klaus first started as city engineer in 2006 to 2009. After working for a local water district for four years, Klaus returned to the city in 2015 as the city engineer/administrator. In 2018, the administrator position was filled by Lisa Aliport and Klaus stayed on as city engineer.
Ailport resigned Nov. 2 to accept a similar position with the city of Hayden. Since the vacancy was opened, Klaus again filled in as both administrator and engineer.
Mayor Rick Alonzo said, after looking over the different applicants and talking with Klaus, that it would be possible for Klaus to fill both positions. However, to make that happen, an assistant would be needed for the long term.
Klaus said, as an engineer, he has done a lot of in-house designing for city projects to save dollars. Due to the additional duties as city administrator, he has found that he doesn’t have the time to design and suggested the city hire a junior engineer to assist the city engineer/city administrator. Klaus would oversee the assistant.
Klaus will not receive a pay increase. However, the city estimates it will save money in the long run hiring an assistant, rather than hiring another engineer.
The new assistant position salary will range from $60,000 to $80,000, based on current market trends. Prior, the city administrator position paid an estimated $96,000, and so the city hopes to cut down costs by combining the positions.
Klaus told the Herald that engineering focuses more on long-term planning and designs, and rather the administrator deals with immediate issues and responds to issues or crises.
Per the job description the assistant will prepare plans, specifications, estimates and reports for various city projects, including capital Improvement projects and the development and modification of city infrastructure.
Design drafting for municipal infrastructure projects will be a major portion of the assistant tasks as well as additional tasks.
By having the assistant manage many engineering duties, Klaus will be freed up to focus on administrative tasks.
The council unanimously approved to advertise for the assistant position.