Executive Session Minutes from 12/18/06
Employee Compensation Committee
9:30am – 11:06am
Present: Michael Storch, Chair of the Select Board and member of the Employee Compensation Committee, Jonathan Sylbert, Select Board member, Wayne Burkhart, Select Board member, Melissa Noe secretary to the Board and Committee, Maynard Forbes, Employee representative to the Employee Compensation Committee, Janet Cathcart, Town Representative to Employee Compensation Commiittee, Debra Mielke, Finance Committee member and Dan Moriarity, Finance Committee and Employee Compensation Committee member
Roll call was taken by the Chair. All Select Board members were present. A motion was made by W. Burkhart to go into executive session, seconded by J. Sylbert, and approved unanimously.
Items discussed:
1. D. Moriarity explained the purpose of the Employee Compensation Committee and listed its members. In order to review and understand the goals of the committee, surveys were sent out to surrounding towns (Tyringham, Monterey, Otis, Stockbridge, Egremont and New Marlborough were the towns that responded). Cash compensation and additional benefits and packages were reviewed. Due to time constraints the committee is starting the process focusing just on the salaries for this upcoming budget.
2. The committee is recommending a 10% raise for the Director of Operations and Highway 3 and a 6% raise for Highway member 2 and the Foreman. These percentages include a cost of living adjustment for the FY08. M. Forbes explained why 2 of the positions are being recommended at 6% and 1 at 10%.
3. The committee is recommending a 10% raise for the Chief of Police to raise his salary to be up to par with surrounding towns Police Chief’s. The recommendation for the full time officer is a COLA raise.
4. Inter-Departmental Secretary: The committee is recommending a raise in the amount of COLA + 1%. 2 of the 6 towns’ surveys have an assistant. The select board stated that breaking out the Inter-Departmental Secretary’s salary into line items means that each of those departments has control over the individual department’s secretary’s salary.
5. The committee recommends using a COLA reflective of the northeast region. Realistically it costs more to live in the northeast and especially the Berkshires.
6. Future meetings will review the overall package and recommendations will be forthcoming on each of the employee benefits.
7. The $5,000.00 bonus that in previous years had been given to the Director of Operations for snowplowing will be moved into the Winter Maintenance budget to cover OT for all members, fuel, maintenance, etc. We pay people for work performed. D. Mielke of the Finance Committee suggested that it’s more fiscally responsible to hire a 4th employee rather than defend paying OT to a managerial/directorial position. M. Storch as a member of the E.C.C., did not agree with Debra Mielke's recommendation to add in the overtime dollars into the Highway Superintendent's salary. As had been discussed previously, by the Selectboard, there was a unanimous feeling that although the Town once had said that M. Forbes should have a 4th Highway employee that it wasn't fiscally responsible to
spend the amount it would take to hire that employee when in fact the Superintendent was willing to do the snow plowing if he was appropriately compensated. The BONUS dollars that had been allocated previously as compensation was not adequate to cover the amount of additional work performed. What D. Mielke has suggested will more than likely create a ruckus at Town Meeting and might in fact cause the other proposed salary changes to be negated. M. Storch will have no problem defending paying for services performed by any and all Town employees. If the Town, (the Selectboard), didn't want M. Forbes to plow then they should have hired the 4th employee at the time he was hired. To do so now will cost the Town five to six times as much as what may possibly be paid to M. Forbes in overtime for plowing. Instead, for a number of years they utilized his services without compensation until it was recommended that he receive a token bonus. M. Storch stated that now is
the time to act responsibly and pay all the town’s employees for the work they perform.
8. The town will need backup with regards to defending the increase in Chief of Police's salary and retaining the full time officer.
9. J. Sylbert stated that the increase would be $31,000 if all of these recommendations were followed. The finance committee’s recommendations and support are essential.
10. The committee and Select Board agreed that the Director of Operations proposed salary would be $62500/yr with no OT and the $5000 bonus given in previous years would no longer be issued.
11. It was mentioned that 70% of our town’s monies come from people that live in Monterey but vote elsewhere.
At 11:06am M. Storch called this meeting to a close and it was seconded by J. Sylbert and unanimously approved by the board.
Submitted by,
Melissa Noe
Inter-Departmental Secretary
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