TOWN OF AVON ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE STUDY COMMITTEE
AVON TOWN HALL SELECTMAN’S CHAMBERS BUILDING I
MINUTES
JANUARY 22, 2009
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00PM by Chairperson Mark Zacchio in the Avon Town Hall Selectman’s Chambers Building I. Members present: Chairperson Mark Zacchio, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Kisiel, Board of Education member William Stokesbury, Board of Finance member Thomas Gugliotti and Town Manager Philip K. Schenck, Jr. Members absent: none. Also in attendance were Assistant Town Manager Blythe Robinson, resident Flo Stahl, and Matrix representative Susannah Leigh.
II. COMMUNICATIONS FROM AUDIENCE
Flo Stahl wished everyone present a Happy New Year.
III. COMMUNICATION FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Mr. Stokesbury reminded the committee that the budget process was beginning.
IV. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING: DECEMBER 18, 2008
Mr. Stokesbury motioned, Dr. Richard Kisiel seconded, and all agreed to accept the December 18, 2008 minutes as written. None abstained.
V. OLD BUSINESS
None.
VI. NEW BUSINESS REVIEW AND DISCUSSION: TOWN PROFILE, REVIEW AND DISCUSSION: PRELIMINARY ISSUES LIST
Assistant Town Manager Blythe Robinson presented Matrix's preliminary draft of the Town Profile to the committee. She apologized for its lack of completion but said it was important to start with an accurate report if we were considering changing the way the Town does things. Mr. Stokesbury inquired about the employee response which Ms. Robinson said was good overall. Ms. Leigh concurred that the departments had been very cooperative but that she still needed to interview some Public Works' staff.
Mr. Gugliotti asked for clarification on a few items on performance measures. Mr. Stokesbury questioned the amount of W2's and leave request forms issued. Town Manager Philip Schenck explained the elevated number represented seasonal employees and that leave slips represented a means to track employee' absence from the office (doctor's appointments, vacations, sick, etc.). Chairperson Zacchio suggested it a good time to discuss employee time studies to forecast future needs. Mr. Schenck said that most of the departments had one or two people and hadn't really felt the need to get into these kinds of processes. Mr. Zacchio said also that it applied more to repeatable kinds of tasks but that it could be used as a good tool to verify the staffing head count against the workload you have and use it to predict the future
workload. Mr. Schenck also questioned spending the time to account for time spent. He also mentioned there were studies out there by Deloitte & Touche or even funded by grant money to measure performance and these are playing an increasingly larger part in achieving Government Finance Office Association budget recognition. Mr. Schenck alluded to the "No Child Left Behind" performance measures the Board of Education faces.
Dr. Kisiel asked for further clarification from Ms. Leigh regarding the performance measures. She explained that the report was still in the information gathering phase and that the purpose of this meeting was to further clarify the Town's functions in order to recommend service delivery alternatives/solutions. He also asked how the state statutes relative to schools were chosen. Ms. Leigh noted that their staff chose statutes that were relevant to the functional areas being addressed in the report. Mr. Schenck and Mr. Zacchio mentioned possible scenarios that suggested solutions could create other issues: possibly incurring attorney fees or conflicts with the Town Charter.
Mr. Zacchio questioned Ms. Leigh on what guide she uses for "best practices." She said that recommendations were made based on thirty years of combined senior experience, over hundreds of municipalities' use of technology and staffing ratios. She added that each entity could be affected by local circumstance or statutes or funding constraints. Dr. Kisiel emphasized employee fear of "lack of control" in implementing merging overlapping functions in both areas as well as within their own departments. Mr. Zacchio mentioned the need for Matrix to consider liability costs in outsourcing and consider all possible scenarios in presenting a final report. Mr. Stokesbury said he’d like some examples of mergers that have worked for other Towns. Ms. Robinson noted that the Town of Mansfield shares
a Finance Director between the Town and Board, and Tolland shares services between the Town and BOE (outdoor facilities maintenance, IT).
Ms. Robinson said the surveys had been given to the department heads for distribution to employees and were due to be returned to Ms. Leigh by January 30th. Ms. Leigh will compile the feedback and discuss the "meat" at the next meeting to be held February 2nd, 5:30PM in the Selectman's Chambers Building 1 in Town Hall.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Dr. Richard Kisiel motioned, Mr. Bill Stokesbury seconded, and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 7:46PM. None abstained.
Respectfully submitted:
Chairperson Mark Zacchio
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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