FINAL
CHILMARK PERSONNEL BOARD MEETING AUGUST 18, 2005 – CHILMARK TOWN HALL
CALL TO ORDER: 8:08 AM
PRESENT: Members Jennie Greene, Richard Williams, Lois Norton and Henry Burkin. Also present: Polly McDowell, Riggs Parker, Lenny Jason and Chuck Hodgkinson. Absent: Max McCreery and Tim Carroll.
MEETING MINUTES
The July 7 meeting minutes were reviewed. Mr. Williams made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Norton seconded and the vote was unanimous in favor.
The July 21 meeting minutes were reviewed. Mr. Williams made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Burkin seconded and the vote was three in favor with one abstention (Ms. Norton).
The July 28 meeting minutes were reviewed. Ms. Norton made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Williams seconded and the vote was three in favor with one abstention (Mr. Burkin).
The August 4 meeting minutes were reviewed. Ms. Norton made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous in favor.
LENNY JASON – ASSISTANT ASSESSOR: Lenny Jason attended the meeting to discuss the job classification for the Assistant Assessor position. Mr. Williams briefly outlined the definitions of exempt and non-exempt status and mentioned the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has specific criteria that determine what jobs qualify as exempt or non-exempt. He continued by pointing out the pay method of hourly versus salaried is not determined by FLSA regulations. The pay method is a Town decision.
Mr. Jason asked why it was necessary to keep time cards for salaried positions. Mr. Williams explained that legal counsel strongly urged the Town to require all employees submit completed time sheets to protect the Town’s interests. He added that accurate time records help the PB develop accurate hours and salary budgets for each position.
Ms. Greene asked Mr. Jason to clarify what he was told regarding his eligibility for vacation or sick time. Mr. Jason summarized that when he was first hired (1984) he was told he gets two weeks vacation. In 1994 he was asked why he did not apply for his ten-year longevity benefits. He subsequently tried to apply and was told it was too late. In 1995 he applied for longevity benefits and was told he is not eligible for longevity benefits. Mr. Jason concluded the explanation by saying he was finally approved for longevity benefits about three years ago. Mr. Jason continued by stating he is not asking the PB for anything. He merely wanted to understand why the PB was evaluating the various job classifications and said he would like to review the FLSA criteria. Mr. Jason said
he thought the Assistant Assessor position should be a salaried, exempt position and wanted to study the criteria further. He continued by recommending the PB educate all employees on all the new or revised policy decisions and closed “loop holes” when all the final decisions are made.
Separately, it was added that the PB should consult legal counsel about how the FLSA and Town Personnel By-Law applies to elected positions—such as the Treasurer.
AUGUST 2 SELECTMEN’S MEETING: Ms. Norton reported on the August 2 Selectmen’s meeting she attended to ask the BOS to reconsider their vote regarding time card requirements for exempt positions. Ms. Norton summarized that the Selectmen amended the PB’s recommendation and thought exempt employees only needed to report the use of accrued benefits and did not need to submit time sheets for the daily hours worked each week. It was not clear if this opinion applied to all exempt positions or just five specific exempt jobs.
PROCEDURE FOR GETTING LEGAL ADVICE: Mr. Parker summarized the new procedure that was approved by the Selectmen for obtaining legal advice. The goal is to avoid duplication and streamline the process in order to get the answers back to the respective boards seeking advice, in a timely and accurate manner. The key steps in sequential order are: The Administrative Assistant writes and submits the specific questions for legal counsel’s opinion to the Executive Secretary; The Exec. Sec. approves the choice of legal counsel; the board representative sends the question to the attorney in writing and asks for a telephone opinion; the answer is put in writing by the board representative and approved by the attorney before distributing the opinion to the Executive. Secretary and respective board.
All legal opinions are then filed in a master legal opinion book for future reference.
EMT COORDINATOR: The need for the EMT Coordinator job description was discussed. It was agreed that Polly McDowell and Chuck Hodgkinson would meet with the EMT Coordinator and review the past work done on this and develop a draft job description. This will be done after the summer season ends.
SHELLFISH CONSTABLE: The status of this position was discussed regarding job responsibilities, time requirements, pay method – hourly or salaried, whether or not it is a seasonal or year-round position and the tenure of the appointment. It was agreed to assemble all of this information and obtain Shellfish Constable job descriptions from other towns and use this to update the job description and the classification of this position with the goal of assessing the opportunities open to the Town for a commercial shellfish season. Ms. Greene volunteered to get the Aquinnah and Edgartown job descriptions; Ms. Norton will get the Oak Bluffs job description. Mr. Williams mentioned that the PB is a policy making board and suggested the Town assemble a subcommittee for this project.
WORKING MEETING: Ms. Greene recommended the PB schedule a working meeting to focus on the policy changes and updates listed on the status report. Each board member was assigned specific topics and asked to bring draft policies to the September 1 meeting. It was agreed this would be a group working session. The assignments are as follows: Ms. Norton: contract labor; personal vehicle use and reimbursement; Ms. Greene: work with the CAS to draft questions for legal input on the application of the FLSA and by-law to elected positions; lunch and break time; civic duty volunteer work; Mr. Williams: flexible scheduling; overtime and comp. time; Polly and Chuck: exempt/non-exempt; salaried/hourly classifications; part-time employee benefits eligibility; Mr. Carroll: ADP
benefits tracking data (Chuck will communicate this to Tim).
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS: Mr. Parker asked about the status of the various performance reviews and organizing the employee personnel files. Ms. Greene responded that the performance reviews are not yet finished and that she and Ms. Norton will inventory the personnel files on a weekend in the future.
Mr. Williams made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Norton seconded and the meeting adjourned at 9:53 AM.
Respectfully submitted by Chuck Hodgkinson, CAS.
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