New engineer hired by county

Ringgold County has secured the services of a new county engineer.
Travis Malone of Kansas officially signed a contract with the county board of supervisors to assume duties as the full-time county engineer effective September 1.
Malone is currently employed as an engineer with Bettis Construction of Topeka, KS. Before that, he served as an engineer with the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The contract stipulates a salary of $96,000 per year, approximately $10,000 higher than the salary of the prior county engineer.
The contract also carries 15 days of vacation leave along with single health, dental and life benefits as outlined in the county’s personnel policy.
Both native Iowans, Malone and his wife have four children – twin 4-year-old boys, a first-grade boy and a fifth-grade girl.
The initial plan is for Malone to move to Ringgold County in this summer with the family to follow prior to the opening of school in 2018. In the meantime the Malones will sell their property in Kansas while searching for a new home in Ringgold County.
The contracting with a new county engineer will allow the county to again become eligible for federal funding for various projects.