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Employee Compensation Committee Meeting
Date: 1/21/09 8:04 – 9:00am Amended 2/17/09
Present: Janet Cathcart, member, Michael Storch, member, Scott Jenssen, Member, Maynard Forbes, Director of Operations, Gareth Backhaus, Chief of Police, and Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
- M. Forbes provided the Committee with one of the proposals from the MA. Fire Chief’s accreditation. The Fire Chief’s authority comes from the State Fire Marshall even though the Select Board appoints the Fire Chief. The Committee will review this at a later date.
- The Committee reviewed the information requested from M. Forbes’ with regards to raises for the highway crew. S. Jenssen asked for M. Forbes’ job description. M. Forbes stated that the Director of Operations covers the Highway Department, municipal properties and municipal buildings in addition to other things. The Committee asked if the prior person in this position also handled these things. M. Forbes stated he did not and the committee that hired him added these responsibilities. The following is a comparison (info provided by J. Cathcart and M. Noe’s research) of what the job description used to be and what it is currently:
- Highway Department - 2008 Salary Comparison with Surrounding Towns
Director of Operations
Towns |
Salary |
Additional Pay |
Miles of Roads |
West Stockbrige |
$42,640 |
Overtime |
33.34 miles |
Tyringham |
$25.24hr ($52,701/yr) |
Overtime |
25.56 miles |
Otis |
$50,000 |
No Overtime |
63.61 miles |
Monterey |
$62,400 |
No Overtime |
52.13 miles |
Egremont |
$54,459 |
No Overtime |
42.31 miles |
Stockbridge |
$58,976 |
Occasional Overtime |
55.1 miles |
New Marlborough |
$28.10hr ($58,672.80/yr) |
Overtime |
84.67 miles |
Highway Personnel
Highway Positions |
Other Towns |
Monterey |
Forman |
$17.67 - $23.31/hr |
$20.76/hr |
Highway Workers |
$13.00 - $19.62/hr |
Highway 1 = $19.58/hr Highway 2 = $18.05/hr |
Cash-related Comparisons
Towns |
Clothing/Laundry Allowance/On Call Pay |
Tyringham |
clothing provided by town/no on call pay |
Otis |
some clothing items provided by town/no on call pay |
Monterey |
No clothing allowance/no on call pay |
Egremont |
$150 boot allowance, clothing & laundry provided by town/$150/month on call pay from Nov - Apr |
Stockbridge |
$550 clothing allowance/$114.54/wk for 22 weeks on call pay |
New Marlborough |
$150 boot allowance, clothing & laundry provided by town/no on call pay |
Job Description of Monterey Director of Operations
Responsibilities When Hired in 2001:
Maintenance of Town buildings, including rental house, Wilson House, Town Garage Supervision of Highway Department employees Preparation of payroll and paying all bills Road repair and reconstruction planning Material purchasing Chapter 90 road projects Winter Road Watch for winter operations Preparation of budgets for Highway Dept., dam inspection and maintenance, Bally Galley, & Transfer Station Overseeing all Town building projects, i.e. Town Hall, salt storage building |
Current Responsibilities Added (note on who did this work previously):
Procurement Officer (Bonnie Tedder) 911 Coordinator (Peter Brown) Manager of Transfer Station (Bonnie Tedder) and its Operations & Policies (Solid Waste Committee) Representative to Regional EPC Assistant Emergency Manager Director Town property insurance with Town Treasurer Winter snowplowing Meeting all State & Federal Mandates: EPCRA, Clean Water Act & storm water runoff |
M. Forbes provided the following chart:
Position |
Current Yrly |
Current Hrly |
Proposed Yrly |
Proposed Hrly |
Director |
$62400.00 |
$29.88 |
$69948.00 |
$33.50 |
Foreman |
$43366.00 |
$20.76 |
$52200.00 |
$25.00 |
Highway 2 |
$40891.00 |
$19.58 |
$50112.00 |
$24.00 |
Highway 3 |
$37698.00 |
$18.05 |
$48024.00 |
$23.00 |
Foreman |
250 hours |
$37.50 |
Highway 2 |
180 hours |
$36.00 |
Highway 3 |
180 hours |
$34.50 |
M. Forbes explained that if all the highway personnel were being so substantially raised, ~it would be fair and appropriate to raise his salary in~tandem~to reflect his position as Director of Operations and above the salary of the foreman from $62500.00 to $69948.00.
The Committee suggested if this were going to be recommended to the Select Board then it should be considered to make the Director of Operations proposed salary at the top of the pay scale for the foreseeable future, except for COLA given across the board
The Committee agreed that when you consider the longevity of the Foreman and Highway Members 2 & 3 and what they do, they aren’t paid accordingly. These rates would be “senior rates” and not “entry rates” if the position became vacant. The committee would need to establish a “starting rate” for new hires and also a built in scale related to the experience and qualifications of new hires as well as expected “step raises” for merit and accumulating seniority over time. The Committee agreed that if the above proposed salaries were to be made to the Select Board then the next project that the Compensation Committee would have to tackle would have to be coming up with a step pay scale that corresponds with merit based raises. Also, any step or merit
raises should be closely tied to improved and regular employee reviews. The Committee asked what the mandatory retirement age set by the Berkshire Retirement Board was, no one knew the exact age.
The Committee asked how the above recommendations would affect the Police Department’s scale. Everyone felt that it would affect the recommendations there as well. The Committee asked for the supporting data on why raises would be necessary in the Police Department to get them up to speed as well. The Committee needs data to back up the arguments; how many times they are called out on a shift, how many times the Chief is called out on the midnight to 8am shift that isn’t a paid shift, paperwork that needs to be written, filings to the state, etc. The Committee needs to know what G. Backhaus brings to the department from experience; knowing the community, searching for and getting grants to purchase needed items, time spent filling out paperwork and attending continuing education.
The Committee agreed to recommend the following for raises in the Highway Department:
Position |
Current Yrly |
Current Hrly |
Proposed Yrly |
Proposed Hrly |
Director |
$62400.00 |
$29.88 |
$69948.00 |
$33.50 |
Foreman |
$43366.00 |
$20.76 |
$52200.00 |
$25.00 |
Highway 2 |
$40891.00 |
$19.58 |
$50112.00 |
$24.00 |
Highway 3 |
$37698.00 |
$18.05 |
$48024.00 |
$23.00 |
Foreman |
250 hours |
$37.50 |
Highway 2 |
180 hours |
$36.00 |
Highway 3 |
180 hours |
$34.50 |
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Employee Compensation Committee Members
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