ROGERS — The Rogers Waterworks and Sewer Commission agreed Monday to share the cost of a human resources and development director with the city.

“We’ve never had a human resource director before,” said Joyce Johnson, finance director for Rogers Water Utilities.

“We’re excited about creating this joint venture,” said Earl Rausch, interim director of the utility. “For the first time, we will have a professional screening, hiring and helping us with a dozen other things we’ve not been able to do for ourselves.”

Greg Hines, mayor, said during the meeting he appreciated the growing cooperation between the city and utility.

The utility is a separate entity from the city. The City Council must approve rates and the issuance of bonds.

The utility and city will split the cost of the new position with the utility paying 35 percent and the city 65 percent of the salary, according to the memorandum approved Monday.

“We don’t have 35 percent of the employees,” Johnson said, “but we do have two payrolls: one for the water and one for the sewer department.”

Details of the joint venture will be worked out in the near future, said Jim Clark, deputy city attorney, who works for the utility under a contract between the city and the utility.

Creating a joint human resources director for both entities won’t damage the autonomy of the utility, Johnson and Clark agreed.

“It will be along the same lines as the contract between the city and the utility for legal services,” Johnson said.

The position will have more responsibility than the previous human resources job description, Hines said.

“Besides the normal human resources director’s duties, the new description calls for building leadership capability, retention strategies, performance management, training, career coaching, plus other duties,” Hines said.

The salary range for the position is between $75,000 and $85,000 per year, not including benefits, city officials said.

The human resources and development position was posted on the city website Monday.