In Split Vote Selectmen Recommend Adding One Hour Per week To Two Part-time Positions
Selectmen reviewed a list of articles proposing additional spending of $236,000, thus possibly increasing the town's operating budget approved last spring, depending on the outcome of Fall Town Meeting on October 21. Much of the proposed spending is for increases in employee working hours resulting in increases in wages and benefits.
Among the proposed salary increases is a proposal to increase one of the part-time assistant town clerk positions by an hour. Currently there are two part-time assistant town clerk positions, - one budgeted for 19 hours, the other for 20 hours. The 20-hour position receives benefits while the 19-hour position does not.
According to Town Manger Mark Haddad, the town clerk's office is open 40 hours per week with both the 19-hour and the 20-hour potions performing identical functions. According to Haddad, "Both positions are deserving of benefits and it is time for the town to correct this inconsistency and provide benefits to both positions." According to Haddad, the costs to the town will be about $6,000 to $16,000, if the employee chooses to take health insurance.
Two Selectmen and one Finance committee member felt that a one-hour adjustment made for a single employee would create a push for similar adjustments for all other town employees working 19 hours per week. Selectmen registered a split vote on the Town Manager's recommendation, with Cunningham, Eliot and Schulman voting in favor of making the change and Selectmen Degen and Petropoulos voting against. [Note: these votes by Selectmen are advisory only and voters at Fall Town Meeting will decide whether these part-time hours will be adjusted.]
Making a similar argument for job equity among fellow employees, the Library says there are four part-time employees, each working 20 hours per week, with one being a 19-hour per week employee without access to benefits. Town Manger Haddad did not break out the full-year cost of upgrading the 19-hour per week library employee to 20 hours with full benefits, but said that, if approved, the cost for the rest of the year would be $3,500.
Transfer to Reduce Tax Rate
On the recommendation of the Town Manager, Selectmen voted unanimously to transfer $100,000 from Free Cash for the purpose of reducing the tax rate for the period beginning July 1, 2013. The intent of this article is to lower the amount of money to be raised from taxes. The $100,000 will have a small impact on the tax rate, but most Selectmen, nevertheless, thought a gesture to reduce taxes was important. According to the Town Manger, this transfer would reduce the average tax bill of a home valued at $400,000 by $28.
The finance committee wanted to transfer $150,000 from Free Cash for tax reduction, but Town Manager Haddad recommended against transferring such a large sum, saying that the Police Department budget may need adjustments in the spring.
Squanacook Hall
Selectmen unanimously recommended warrant articles spending about $30,000 to repair the septic system at Squanacook Hall with the ultimate goal of selling the building to be developed as condos or rental units with the expectation that the town would receive an estimated $10,000 a year in tax revenue once these units were rented or sold.
Additionally Selectmen voted 4-1, recommending extension of a 12" iron water main approximately 2,700 feet along Lost Lake Drive and Pine Trail for fire protection. The cost of this extension will be about $37,000. Selectman Jack Petropoulos voted against these three associated spending articles with the other four Selectmen in favor.
Fire Fighters Contract Renewed
Selectmen approved a new three-year contract covering six Groton firefighters in the union, acceding to pay a retroactive raise of three percent for July 1, 2012 through June 30 , 2013. For the remaining two years of the contract, firefighters will receive increases of two percent. Total cost of the contract is $58,000.
Selectman Warrant Article Recommendations
In a measure to make town Meeting more informative and efficient, resident Rule Loving suggested that Selectmen voting recommendations on town warrant articles be broken out by Selectman's name, making it easier for voters from the floor of Town Meeting to ask direct questions about the reasoning for a particular Selectman's vote. It was agreed that this was a good idea but that the warrant was about to go to the printer and time was too short to implement the measure for this town meeting.
New Restriction on Business Proposed
Saying "Groton has a reputation as tough place to do business, whether earned or not," Selectman Jack Petropoulos asked whether Article 17 sponsored by the Planning Board, an article proposing that businesses come before the Planning Board for a special Permit for any building exceeding 2,500 square feet was a wise idea. He further went on to say that this Article, "makes existing businesses jump through an additional hoop."
