CHILMARK PERSONNEL BOARD MEETING JUNE 1, 2006
CHILMARK TOWN HALL FINAL
CALL TO ORDER: 8:00 AM
PRESENT: Members Jennie Greene, Susan Heilbron, Max McCreery and Lois Norton. Also present: Staff Liaison Polly McDowell, Selectmen’s Liaison Riggs Parker, Executive Secretary Tim Carroll, Stanley Larsen, Warren Doty, Frank Fenner, Martina Mastromonico, Dennis Jason and Chuck Hodgkinson. Absent: Richard Williams.
MEETING MINUTES: The minutes for the April 27, 2006 meeting were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made, seconded and unanimously approved. The May 4, 2006 minutes were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made, seconded and unanimously approved. The May 18, 2006 minutes were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes with minor corrections was made, seconded and unanimously approved.
SHELLFISH CONSTABLE (SC): Ms. Greene opened the discussion and referred to the memo the Personnel Board (PB) sent the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on February 28, 2006 asking for input on the time requirements for this position. Mr. Parker said that while he was not on the board at the time he had a copy of the BOS minutes from a meeting on 3/14/04 when Mr. Larsen was first appointed Shellfish Constable. The minutes indicated Mr. Larsen would have a one-year trial period as Shellfish Constable to see if his recent acquisition of the fish market would interfere with the time needed for the shellfish constable duties. Ms. Greene asked if this was reviewed or considered when Mr. Larsen was re-appointed as Shellfish Constable in 2005. Mr. Parker was not sure. After reading the 3/14/06
minutes aloud Ms. Greene concluded the one-year trial period was probably not reviewed or evaluated.
Mr. Larsen summarized the past three years and said the fish market is still functioning and his shellfish spawning and management efforts led to the success of last season’s scallop and quahog harvest. He added that he has never exceeded his annual operating budget. He said the SC has the challenge of working around several environmental factors that are out of his control such as nitrogen loading, acid rain and excessive boat moorings. He summarized by stating he believes he is succeeding in his SC duties.
Ms. Greene asked how many commercial and recreational shellfish permits were issued last year. Mr. Larsen said he has the report he submitted to the state but cannot recall the exact numbers. Ms. Greene asked if he feels the job requires 20 hours per week even though the submitted time sheets for the past year ending January 2006 indicate an average of about 13 hours per week. Mr. Larsen said yes and he is on call seven days a week. Mr. Fenner commented that no one is questioning Mr. Larsen’s ability or dedication to the job. They are asking if it requires 20 hours a week. Mr. Larsen said yes. He added he must stay abreast of the pollution impact on the beds and habitat, the red tide threat and shellfish food while looking for crabs and other predators. He said he has
not included his research time on his time sheets. He added that his painting business is also busy and successful as well -- having painted 30 houses thus far this year.
Ms. Heibron asked Mr. Larsen if his time sheets do not indicate all the hours he works as SC. Mr. Larsen said he has a lot of paperwork, makes a lot of phone calls and spends time running up the pond and that his time sheets do not reflect the time required for these duties. He admitted he must do a better job managing his paperwork.
Ms. Heilbron explained that the 20 hours of work per week triggers legal issues regarding eligibility for town benefits. It is important to get accurate records of actual time invested.
Ms. Norton mentioned the job description states the SC must stay knowledgeable and asked if Mr. Larsen wrote a SC job description would it be different. He has mentioned several things he does that are not in the job description.
Mr. Doty added that as head of the Shellfish Department the SC must manage the beds, distribute seed and manage predators and that propagation is about one half of the total job. He commented that Mr. Larsen’s work is in part responsible for the good season we had. He mentioned that the summer is a busy time for the fish market and the SC duties and wondered if there is enough time to do both in the summer.
Mr. McCreery asked if Mr. Larsen also attends island shellfish group meetings. Mr. Larsen said he does.
Ms. Heilbron summarized that there is a question about whether or not the SC job description includes all of the job requirements and suggested that she, Mr. Doty and Mr. Larsen revise the job description accordingly. Ms. Greene thought this was a good idea and suggested reviewing the draft with the PB when it is ready.
Mr. Parker supported the initiative and added his concerns are with the personal demands and impact of Mr. Larsen’s total workload of the fish market, painting business and SC duties. Mr. Doty agreed and mentioned the BOS had the same concern in 2004.
Chuck H. will provide the SC job descriptions for Tisbury, West Tisbury and Edgartown as reference for revising Chilmark’s. Ms. Heilbron agreed this may help and said they will try to have a draft by the next PB meeting on June 15.
ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT (ALS) COORDINATOR: Martina M. mentioned she understood the Tri-Town Ambulance discussion will be on the June 15 agenda and had two technical policy questions about this position. 1. Seasonal lifeguards are not eligible for overtime compensation and asked if seasonal EMT’s have the same restriction. The PB said yes. 2. The proposed ALS position is a nonexempt, 40-hour per week, year-round position. Is it eligible for overtime? The PB said yes as outlined in the policy. Ms. Mastromonico asked if the ALS Coordinator can also spend time responding to calls as a volunteer EMT, after hours? If yes, does this volunteer time count toward the ALS Coordinator’s total weekly work time? Also, is the ALS Coordinator eligible to receive
a stipend as a volunteer EMT? The PB said these are good questions and will need to consult with counsel to obtain the correct answers.
EXEMPT, SALARIED POSITIONS – SALARY ADJUSTMENTS: As requested by the BOS, the time sheet analyses for the Town Clerk and Tax Collector positions were reviewed with the recommended annual salary adjustments for each position. The salary adjustments are needed because as exempt positions, both will no longer be eligible to receive compensatory time for extra hours worked. After discussion Ms. Norton made a motion to recommend to the Board of Selectmen increasing the Town Clerk’s weekly paid hours from 20 hours per week to 21 hours per week effective July 1, 2006. This will fairly compensate this position for the time needed to cover all elections and town meetings. The extra 52 hours/year is an average of a six-year analysis of past time sheets. Some years required more
hours and some less—due to the four-year cycle of national and local elections. Mr. McCreery seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor.
Separately, Ms. Norton made a motion to recommend to the BOS increasing the paid weekly number of hours for the Collector of Taxes position from 34 hours per week to 35 hours per week effective July 1, 2006. This position averaged 74 hours of compensatory time per year for the past two years. Mr. McCreery seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor.
BUILDING INSPECTOR (BI): The PB discussed whether or not the Building Inspector position should have an exempt, salaried classification. This position supervises three inspectors and represents the Town on numerous boards and committees. This information is not listed in the BI job description and may make this position eligible for exempt status. Mr. Carroll added that he attended a Bureau of Labor seminar that explained how a Building Inspector position may not justify an exempt classification. After further discussion Mr. McCreery made a motion to recommend classifying this position as exempt, salaried to the Board of Selectmen effective July 1, 2006 contingent upon agreement from town counsel. Ms. Norton seconded and the vote was unanimous in favor.
With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 9:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted by Chuck Hodgkinson, CAS.
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