PARTING WAYS: Stutt resigns as county engineer, supervisors seek replacement

Russ Stutt has resigned as engineer of Jasper County.

In mid-2020, Stutt began experiencing health issues and is currently receiving care from the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics. The doctors there have been particularly good, he said, and seem very thorough, knowledgeable and caring.

Employed with the county for almost 11 years, Stutt told Newton News he will miss the projects of the roads department and the several wonderful people he had the chance to work with and know — including county employees and elected officials, past and present.

“Denny Stevenson, who I have the utmost respect for, has long been an asset to Jasper County,” Stutt said. “Joe Brock was great to work and communicate with. Denny Carpenter provides a knowledge gained from several years of work as an Engineering Technician for Japer County.”

Dennis Parrott, the county auditor, has the best interest of Jasper County in mind and provides help behind the scenes to keep things going smoothly, Stutt added.

The former county engineer also thanked Dennis Bucklin, Randy Freese, Randy Fuchs, Pamela Olson, the shop foremen, the county surveyor and engineering technicians, along with all the foremen and their crews for their contributions to Jasper County.

Stutt has been an engineer since he graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998. He became a registered professional engineer in 2007. Born and raised in rural Monticello, Iowa, Stutt lived near an intersection of three granular surfaced roads and a Level B road with a small bridge a few hundred feet from his home.

This was Stutt’s first exposure to his future career.

“I always enjoyed seeing the work and maintenance that was done in the area,” Stutt said. “I also had two uncles, one of whom was my Godfather and namesake, who worked for road departments. It was always fun to hear them talk about the equipment they ran and the work they did.”

Stutt’s first engineering gig was working in the construction materials and geotechnical division for Terracon. It was an excellent experience and helped him learn a great deal about construction, principles of foundations and materials properties, such as soils, concrete and asphalt.

Later, the worked as a field engineer for Linn County. It was another opportunity for Stutt to gain valuable knowledge in surveying, project inspection and personnel management. In Scott County he worked as the assistant engineer where he became more involved with project development and management.

“It also allowed me to become more familiar with union negotiations along with general road and bridge maintenance,” Stutt said. “Since then, I have been the Jasper County Engineer.”

The most exciting part about Stutt’s profession is seeing the improvements the engineers office have made and the end results of construction projects. Several advances have been made since Stutt’s employment with Jasper County.

“We started or re-started several operations such as building bridges with our own personnel, ditch cleaning and reconstructing roads that are beyond being bale to fix with general grading, implementing an annual contract rock hauling program and working with landowners to mitigate problem areas,” Stutt said.

Particularly traps and drainage issues. Stutt estimates the engineer’s office has replaced more than 100 deficient bridges, rebuilt 200 miles of granular roads, repaved several miles of hard surface roads and replaced countless culverts during his tenure in Jasper County.

Stutt admitted there had been a lot of turnover in the engineer’s office staff, too. When hiring new workers, Stutt’s department put an emphasis on instilling positive attitudes and the value of teamwork.

“I am immensely proud of the employees of the secondary roads department,” Stutt said. “They accomplish numerous tasks, often in less than desirable weather and other conditions. They conduct themselves in a professional manner while providing both quality and quantity.”

Some achievements are visible while some go unseen.

“Overall, I believe they take pride in their work, do an excellent job and are constantly helping improve the infrastructure of Jasper County,” Stutt said.

County seeks direction from supervisors in recruiting new engineer

In October 2020, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors formed an agreement with Marshal County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt to take over some of Stutt’s responsibilities in his absence.

However, Geilenfeldt was not Stutt’s replacement and has remained an employee of Marshall County.

Stutt was going to be gone “for an extended amount of time,” supervisors said, and the county was in need of a licensed, professional engineer who can carry out certain duties. Geilenfeldt has filled in for Stutt ever since.

The county’s human resources director, Dennis Simon, asked the board of supervisors on Tuesday, March 2 for direction in recruiting a new engineer.

So far, Simon plans to collaborate with the Iowa County Engineers Association and Iowa Workforce Development to publicize the open position and set up some local advertising just in case there is a qualified engineer in the area.

However, Simon said he would like the supervisors’ input on a salary range.

“I would like to open this up based on qualifications and experience, but list a range from $100,000-$125,000 — I think we would get our most response or interest (with that amount),” Simon said. “Again, we don’t have to start out there.”

If the county finds a highly qualified candidate, he added, the board can still set a higher salary than the range included in the advertisements.

When inspecting comparable county engineers’ salaries, Simon said the average salary was $119,000 and average length of service was 11.2 years. Supervisor Brandon Talsma agreed with advertising the afforementioned pay range.

Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott told supervisors if they had a really good candidate and felt comfortable paying him or her $130,000, then they should attract those ideal applicants and advertise a higher range of $135,000.

Once an applicant has been found, Simon will present the board of supervisors with a hiring resolution and contract. Under the Iowa Code, the county engineer is the only individual that works for the county that has to have a contract.

“Where you place them on a scale or range will be based on their experience or qualifications,” Simon said. “If you have somebody that applies that you want to pay more to or need to pay more to … that’ll be your choice.”

After speaking with Geilenfeldt, Talsma said the board of supervisors could find a good pool of candidates to choose from.

The board of supervisors agreed to up the range to $100,000-$135,000.

Simon said the close date for the position will be March 31. If no qualified candidates are found, the county can always extend the closing.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com