Sylvan Hill in Wausau, WI. Image courtesy: WAOW-TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Just like everyone else, the Wausau and Marathon County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry is navigating a shortage of workers.
Director Jamie Polley says that’s been especially true at the Sylvan Hill Tubing area this year, leading the schedulers to bring in workers from other areas to keep the hill open. “We have been really struggling [to] staff Sylvan Hill with just our seasonal staff,” said Polley. “We are throwing in some full-time staff here and there just to keep it going with the rentals and stuff that we have.”
Part of that struggle has to do with the requirement that county employees be at least 17 or 18 before they are hired. “[That’s because] of the equipment they operate, but that’s usually in the summer when they operate a mower or a truck.”
Since there isn’t any heavy equipment to operate at Sylvan Hill, Polley says they are looking into waiving that requirement to allow a bigger pool of candidates for those jobs. She says that would allow more high school-age kids to work at the hill.
“High School students are here. College students [can be] hit-and-miss. That’s where our problem has been, so that’s one thing we are going to look at,” added Polley.
Looking ahead to the summer pool season, Polley says they do have quite a few lifeguards returning from last year, meaning she doesn’t anticipate having the same staffing problems that the department had in 2021.
Polley told the Wausau Parks and Rec committee that she’d also like to conduct a salary study soon to see if the department is paying its people appropriately.
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