Good evening everyone and welcome to the September 9th, 2025 uh town council meeting. Um I will call the meeting to order at 6 o'clock and I ask that we stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Hey, if we could take a moment of silence just to reflect on anything dear in our hearts. Okay. Um, I have to announce in
accordance to Mass General Law, we are being recorded by LCAT. And if anybody is in the audience recording, could you please identify yourself? Okay, I don't think anybody. Uh, next we are moving on to public comments.
Anybody in the public? Nobody. Okay, council comments. Very good. Nobody has come. All right, moving right along. Got to go to dinner.
Uh, okay. Town manager report. Hi, Tom. Hello, good evening. Um, thanks. So, as usual, uh the we'll start with the you'll find the project reports for the high school and auditorium for uh the entire month of August. Uh
lot of uh lot of cool stuff in those reports. I mean, interior stairwells and the parking lot is done. Uh it's really starting to look like a building uh in inside and out. uh HVAC, rough electrical, rough
plumbing. I mean, it is uh we're cruising along here. So, everything's going great. Um I've also attached a letter of recognition from uh Police Chief Mark Williams to the officers that responded to the multi-seene uh accident
uh Tuesday, the August 26th, which I was going to read aloud, but I brought Mark with me. So, Mark's going to read it aloud if he will please. Thank you. Good evening, counselors. Thanks,
manager, giving me this opportunity to uh you know, share the good work that our officers are doing. It's always always good to brag a little bit even though I had nothing to do with this. Uh it's great to to see them
doing their jobs uh in a very difficult situation. And so, um, as Tom said, the letter reads, uh, on Tuesday, August 26th, 2025, at 9:39 a.m., Westcom dispatch received multiple 911 calls reporting that a
pedestrian was struck near the gas pumps at the Pride Station at the Rotary. It was further reported that the pedestrian was down and bleeding from the head and that the suspect vehicle had fled from the scene heading north on Elm Street. Officer Michael Healey arrived on scene quickly and observed the seriously
injured party. He immediately began providing a medical medical attention while also trying to relay information that was being shouted to him by multiple witnesses at the scene. Officer Healey was able to provide a description of the suspect vehicle and suspect a
male carrier and a male truck to all of the other officers on shift who are responding to the area. Sergeant Jason Janipro and officers Timothy Galant, Matthew Lyre, Michael Kalcosola, and detectives Anthony Deiani, and Detective Sergeant Daniel Bruno all responded to
the area to assist with the search for the suspect and investigation. At approx approximately 9:48 a.m., dispatch received reported receiving calls from the People's Bank on North Main Street that a mail truck had just crashed into their building. Sergeant Janipo, Officer
Galant, and Detective Dany all responded there and located the mail truck and operator on scene. Following further conversation with the driver and an onseen investigation there, officers determined that this was the same person who struck the pedestrian at the pride station. The investigation also led
officers to believe that this operator was under the influence of alcohol. He was placed under arrest. Following the suspect's booking, he was interviewed by Detective Deiani and Massachusetts State Police Trooper Ferrara, and he admitted his direct and knowing involvement in
the crash, as well as his consumption of alcohol before it. I would like to recognize and thank all of the officers involved in this incident from the initial response and emergency medical treatment of the victim through the investigation and arrest that immediately followed. This was a chaotic
and traumatic scene for all involved. The responding officers, the victim, and the eyewitnesses who saw the crash happen. Despite these challenges, Officer Healey was able to provide life-saving medical care until an ambulance arrived. All while sharing valuable information on the suspect and
vehicle, which helped lead to his quick apprehension, arrest, and eventual confession. I appreciate everyone's response to this serious and unusual incident and once again it's a great example of the teamwork and professionalism we have in the most critical moments.
Uh I would add uh that the we have been in contact with the victim multiple times since this happened and I'm happy to report he was discharged from the hospital the next day which uh is shocking given the video uh which I've
seen which is shocking and uh that he literally went home the next day but he is home recuperating. He's got a long road ahead. Um, but he's walking uh able to hold his his baby and uh in good spirits and uh you know,
we're we're hoping and praying for the best for him as he recovers from this and uh thank you all for the opportunity to share this good news. Thank you, Mark. Thanks, Mark. Thanks. So yeah, again I I think sometimes we
sort of take for granted uh what our officers do for us every day. We live in a relatively safe community, which is of course is directly related to them. Uh but um again, thank you to everybody involved. Obviously, it was a crazy situation. Mark, thanks for your
leadership uh and your humility saying you had nothing to do with it. Uh but in all honesty, a lot of people had to do a lot of things for for that outcome. Um and and we're just all very thankful for that. Um I want to share some other
exciting news. Uh our collector treasures office uh from the office uh Don Fonty, our collector treasurer successfully passed her treasures exam following years of course work at UMass. Uh I don't even want to go into how much
you have to do uh to to even get to the point where you can take this and then to pass it. So congratulations to Don. Um additionally, our assistant collector Melissa Lion passed her collector's exam uh in similar similarly impressive fashion. Again, uh tons of tons of
course work. Um both received their certificates at the Mass Collectors and Treasures Association fall meeting this year. um just more evidence of uh the dedication and talent level uh we're fortunate to have on the team. So, congrats to Don and Melissa.
Uh Rebecca attended the Western Massachusetts Brownfields uh roundt held in Greenfield u hosted by uh US EPA mass DP mass development uh Yukon TAB who you remember we partnered with earlier in the year uh and the Frank Franklin
Regional Council of Governments uh to learn more about Brownfields um funding and technical resources. Uh I'll I'll give you a follow-up in a second off script. Uh I I mentioned that we had a follow-up meeting uh Monday with D which went phenomenal. But this
is all sort of uh trying to get in ahead of our uh for 70 Maple Street, our brownfields uh application request for funding uh to clean up that site uh in the center of town. Um, we we met with
uh the Massachusetts contingent uh Monday uh and PVPC uh to uh try to get a handle on what this application process is going to look like. Now, they haven't even put the rags out yet, which change every year to year. And once that
happens, we'll have 60 days to file. So, that'll be somewhere at this point, you know, mid mid November. Uh we have a we have some work to do. we have to have a public engagement kind of thing. So, we're going to be cranking that out. Um,
and D has sort of another uh pot of money uh that they offered or we filled out an application um to see uh if they could remove the contaminated soil from the building, which would be a nice first start for the project. Um, I think
you've heard me mention before when they cleaned up the site originally, uh, all of that contaminated soil got put in the building. Uh, it was better than out in the elements and and storm water making the dirt go everywhere. So, um, we're we're we had an excellent meeting.
Again, I can't say enough. every time we meet with them, I'm I'm floored by the the assistance that we're getting from Mass D, PVPC, and even the EPA at this point to to sort of put us in a position to get funding to
clean this site up, which, you know, we took by tax title, which makes us eligible for all this. It's not a parcel that we necessarily wanted to buy. We sort of came into it. So all this help is uh because of that. So we're we're
very thankful for for all that and more updates to come. Like I said, this is going to go fast uh ahead of mid- November. Um sidewalk construction on Westwood and Maple Street began Monday. Uh work is being performed by DMP Morice
out of Lello. Uh they've done our last couple jobs and anybody that's seen that the Parker Street one, they they're they're going to move quick. So uh we're excited that to have them back on board. Um, also, uh, paving operations finished on Westwood and the paving crews are now
headed to Kulie Avenue and Avery Street, which is the water main project from a couple years ago, uh, to clean that area up. And then, um, Harkness A, uh, Anthony Drive and West Allen Ridge to the town line. Uh, so quite a bit of paving going on this fall. Uh, we I
talked to Bruce this morning. We still do not have an upto-date scope and schedule from DOT in terms of Summers Road and Prospect Street, but uh we we are we continue to sort of ping them for that schedule. Uh it it still seems like
it is going to be this fall. Um but again, uh we'll we'll take it in the spring, too. Um the uh new Westcom operations center is uh nearly finished. Just doing punch list items now. will be full, the full
operation will be in there uh September 16th, which is really exciting. Um, state-of-the-art, everything is gorgeous. Uh, we've had our last two board meetings in one of the training rooms. Uh, you know, you name it, they got it. It is a world-class facility.
So, we're we're very excited about that. Um, we recently received a planning assistance grant from uh the Mass Executive Office on Energy and Environmental Affairs. Uh we're having uh Jeff Speck, the author of Walkable City and his internationally renowned
urban planning firm uh Spec Dempsey provide the town with a conceptual redesign of the Rotary in the town center. Uh sort of all in line with this whole center town district initiative. Um there'll be a presenting a visual sketch of the
findings uh Tuesday, September 30th here at the senior center from 6:00 to 8. Um, in order to gear up for that, uh, the Rebecca's been, uh, facilitating a dis discussion group on Tuesdays at the library, um, to review some of the key
concepts and ideas presented in the in the walkable city. Um, library is also hosting a book discussion event open to the public Wednesday evening, September 24th, um, from 6:00 to 7:00 in their conference room. We also uh the planning
department is looking again for resident feedback on housing needs, structures and locations um to include in our housing production plan. Um and this survey will guide our efforts to ensure that housing needs are are meets the needs of all the residents today and in the future. Uh I have the link here on
the manager report obviously which will get posted online with all the other managers reports but uh we have a couple spots around town where there's paper copies and uh the QR code um that you can go on on your phone.
Um so upcoming events uh Thursday night uh the candlelight vigil for September 11th uh 8:00 p.m. at the fire department. Uh, we have a recycling event September 13th from 10 to 2 at Burch Park Middle School. I think I put the flyer in the info and that'll be
attached to the manager's report as well. Um, celebrate EL uh presented by the Rotary Club September 27th, 10:00 a.m. 10 to 3 I guess at Center Field. Um, our Centertown District meeting with Jeff Speck on September 30th here at the
COA at 6. Uh, and another plug for October Fest, not till October 18th, uh, noon at Brown Farm. That's been a a great event the last few years. So, um, that's all I got. I'll answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you. Any questions? Just one quick question. The link for the survey y is that actually operational is um, I had seen it through Facebook. I clicked on it and there it didn't work. It simply said, uh, pick up your paper copy at
the library or this or that. That kind of defeats the purpose of the link. I wasn't sure if that's just because it was early in the process and it was first up or link should work. It's posted to the town's website and this to the town's website, but the town's website has the
direct link to the survey in the notification that was created. Yeah. So, if you scroll down just a tad on the main page, like it's the the link is right there, but we'll we're I'll double check the link to make sure before I put it. Yeah, I thought it
went out to everyone and then I clicked on it and it just didn't. All right. I was like, oh, I can get a paper copy. Confirmed it work. We just want you in town hall. Yes. Uh, no. I'll we'll double check that to make sure that that we just confirmed it works. Perfect.
Okay. I have just um point of information on the recycling event. Yep. As listed for September 13th. Yep. The Is that different than what was just held at the high school on Saturday? Yes. So, they had a shredding event.
Shredding. And you could also drop off Yeah. to pay a fee. Uh electronics. Yep. So, this will be similar to sort of just a bulk sort of pickup with electronics and all that stuff. So, That's one.
Okay. Any other questions that good? Thank you. Thanks, Tom. Um, okay. Next, communications, correspondence, and announcements. Um, Tom, you just mentioned this in your report. Thursday night, September 11th,
uh, candlelight vigil, 8:00m at the firehouse. Just to reiterate. Um, other than that, um, that's all I have. Um, next would be public hearings, but we have none. And then, so number eight
would be orders of the day. So we have licensing matters. We have five day liquor licenses. So I think we can just jump right into those, right? So, under A1, I would make a motion to
approve a one-day liquor license application for the Masonic 33 Chestnut Street for a music festival fundraiser on September 13th, 2025 from 2 to 8:00 p.m. Second. Motion has been made and
seconded. Um, any further discussion? All those in favor? I roll. Roll call. Thanks, guys. I already voted. Yes. Kathy. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Okay. Great. All right. Motion passes. Next. I make a motion to approve a one-day liquor license application for the Greek Orthodox Church, 200 Prospect
Street for the Taste of Greece on October 17, 2025 from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Second. Okay, motion's been made and seconded. Um, any further discussion? Okay, roll call. Uh, Jim, yes.
Kathy, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm a yes. We have to say yes. Jonathan, yes. Okay, great. Hey, motion's been passed. Um, next,
I'll make a motion to approve a one-day liquor license application for the Greek Orthodox Church to Parker Street, Matasa, Greece on October 18th, 2025 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Any other further discussion?
Okay. Jim, yes. Yes. Anna is a yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph, yes. Yes. And John, yes. Great. Moving right along.
All right. We have liquor license for East Village. I make a motion to approve a one-day liquor license application for East East East Village Tavern for East Long Meadow Octoberfest at Brown Farm, 64 Hampton
Road on October 18, 2025, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Second. Okay, motion has been made and seconded. Uh, further discussion. Jim, yes. Yes. Ann is yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph,
yes. I'm yes, John. I'm Yes. Okay, motion passes. Good. Um, do you have question? Yep. Okay. I, um, move to approve a one-day liquor license application for St. Paul the
Apostles Church, 235 Dwight Road for a wedding reception on October 11th, 2025 from 6 to 11 p.m. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Um, any further discussion, Jim? Yes, Kathy. Yes.
Anna is yes. Yes. Ralph. Yes. Connor. I'm Yes. John. Yes. Great. Motion passes. Next. I make a motion to approve the one day liquor license application for St. Paul
the Apostles Church, 235 Dwight Road for a Vietnamese New Year celebration fundraiser on October 12th, 2025 from 6:00 p.m. to 11 p.m. Second. Okay. Motion has been made and seconded. Uh Jim, yes.
Kathy, yes. Anna is yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph, yes. Connor, I'm a yes. Yes. Okay. Motion passes. All right. Lots going on in E.
Um, next financial matters. We have prior year bills. Tom, did you want to? Yeah. So the the first one is uh the fire department bill. Um this was one of those that sort of
straddled that um I think they were unsure about who was I think all the rest of these uh invoices are paid by the state but the initial one is paid by the town. So there was a little bit of confusion but um
the the the the action happened in this in FY25 and the invoice came in FI26. Any questions? No. Okay. I'll make a motion app to approve a prior year bill for professional Y professional health for professional health services the
amount of $577 for Eli Jagger's initial physical exam for the state hazmat team to be paid from the fire department's account 2907220-5307. Second. Okay. Motion's been made and seconded. Any further discussion? Okay, this is a roll call. Jim,
yes. Kathy, yes. Anna is yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph, yes. Connor, I'm a yes. And John, I'm a yes. Great. Perfect motion. All right. I think we have one more, right?
Yes. So, the the second one is uh we we had encumbered we typically encumber money for the copier. So, but this this new contract is different than anything we've ever had where it was a flat fee. So, we we we pretty much had the number
we need. This new contract, which is how all new contracts will be, is based on usage. So, it all kind of depends on how much it gets used. So, we have no historical data. So, uh this is uh what's left after the encumbrance
incumbrances what what we still have to pay is is the the long and the short. Makes sense. Spread out amongst many machines and many buildings. Many buildings. Yep. Does anybody have any questions?
Okay. All right. I'll make a motion approve the bills from the prior year for the uh the Canon copier lease usage of the following amounts and departments. 015412-5270. Council on Aging $32.61 61 BP242000
0 52700 0 Bland Park $6646 HS242000-52700 The high school $1,399.91 MB24200-52700 Mealbrook $6960 60
MS24200-52700 Maple Shade 238.32 MV2420000 52700 Mountain View $37318 SP2400 0 52700 0
High School special education $1 for a total of $3,5318. Second. Okay. Motion's made second. Any further discussion? I have just a question. Obviously, all of this is primarily school department
related. Um, is there a way even though the line item's been allocated, it doesn't sound like if it's based on usage and we know the schools are heavy users by size and the population of the
student body um is there a way to in the absence of historical data um begin to anticipate if we'll be over again? So, I think uh excellent point and I think yeah, I would go ahead and
anticipate uh everyone's budget for FI26 was sort of a shot in the dark estimating what we would use. So, I mean, maybe we're over, but we're not going to know until we start getting some information on how much people are
using and and then perhaps dial back the usage if it's in excess, right? Um, so yeah, I mean I would I would say obviously if even if they were right on with their FY26 number and now they're down three this this much in each of those
accounts. So uh because that'll get paid out of that line item this year. So we'll we'll to be to be continued. But yes, good point. One question about that, Tom. Yep. Um, since it's a different, you know, kind of pay as you go structure
with the copier contracts, is that something that the town has to pay, you know, just like at the end of the year, or is that something that we're paying like in a monthly or quarterly cadence to the vendor so we would have some visibility maybe like a third of the way through the year knowing if we're over
or under? Yeah. And so we'll have to the the these bills also came late because it took us a while to sign a contract and we w we weren't paying any invoices until we had that contract in hand obviously. So, uh, yeah, perhaps at the
first quarter, we can when we do like our first quarter look back in October, we can see what those line items look like and maybe try to project a little bit further out, which obviously might be tough for the schools because they're only, you know, right in session for for September of that.
But we, as we get more data, I think it's just it's it's a good idea that we're asking these questions because we'll it'll remind us to keep looking at this as we move. Right. So, is this the overage for when did it when did it start? The
the new contract would have been July 1. So, what's this overage for? So, last year's bills year. Well, so I I'm trying to remember when we actually signed the contract because this if I had Quimby on here, he'd talk for about 45 minutes about the
onboarding of this particular contract was uh difficult to say the least. Yeah. Uh so we had estimated and encumbered money to pay this invoice, but it just wasn't enough. So this is just the the the overage of the estimate.
Okay. Okay. All right. Anyone else? A three-year contract for Canon or think we did five. We did five. Yeah, five. We actually voted to
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. Um, did we have a motion? We did, right? We motion seconded. Now we got to do the roll, right? Roll. Jimmy, yes. Kathy, yes. I'm a yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph,
yes. I'm a yes. And John, I'm a yes. Okay, motion has been made and pass. Thank you. Um, all right. We are now down to approval of minutes.
I move to approve the August 12th, 2025 special meeting minutes. I'll second. Okay. Motion's been made and second. Any questions? Jim, yes. Kathy, yes. Emmy, yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph, yes.
Conor, yes. John, I'm yes. Okay, we have the I make a motion to approve the August 12th 125 open session minutes. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Um,
any questions? Jim, yes. Kathy, yes. I am a yes. Marilyn, yes. Ralph, yes. Connor, I'm a yes. And John, I'm a yes. Great. Great. Moving right along.
Okay, no old business, so we will move right on to new business. We have the compensation and classification study update. Okay. Um, so yeah, we I've brought this up in
a few meetings prior. Uh, we uh we're looking to update our compensation and classification plan. Uh this was done back in 2016 or so. Uh never really I don't think fully implemented. Um and so
uh we had some money set aside from from prior year. So we've hired uh human resources Services Incorporated. Um Sandy Stubski is on the call with us uh to answer some questions. also uh our
illustrious HR director Audrey Staples is here to also sort of fill in my obvious gaps. Um but uh you know as I said last time this l luckily for us uh you know we have a very talented staff
here and yet you know the purpose of this plan is you know to make sure we're in line with um you know similar towns in our area and to make sure we're we're treating our and and we're treating our our employees properly and and you know
part of it's attracting talent but uh like I said for us uh it's retaining our high level talent that that we're lucky enough to have. So um there there is quite a substantial report here. Um I know you've all read through it a couple times already.
Uh we we are still sort of in the process of digesting it ourselves and working on an implementation plan. Um and you know I'll just open up the floor. or Audra, do you want to add uh anything to this? Um if you want to
bring Sandy in um Jamie, that would be great. Hey guys, doing how are you? Good, thank you. Um so what I'm going to leave kind of discussing like the process itself up to Sandy um because
that's really her area of expertise. I just wanted to speak to like the importance of a study like this. Prior to doing this, um, we didn't have wage structure for our non-union employees. Um, and so it's really hard to defend
equitable wages when you can't say like, oh, well, you're here because of this, this, and this reason, right? So it a lot of it stemmed from wanting to build that structure and to be able to have a way if we create new positions or if
positions are changed to be able to say okay here's a clear-cut system by which we grade your position and say this is where that position now falls based on this criteria and that's where the the wage range is. And it also gives us
because we have um there's a new law that is now in effect when we post positions we have to post a pay range um on them. And so that was difficult to do when there weren't any ranges. So now
we're just trying to really establish that structure um for our non-UN employees to know like this is where this position starts. This is what it goes up to. this is the growth that you can see over the longevity of your career kind of like that. So that was
really the importance in doing this and like Tom said and really retention is big like it's municipal government is competitive um you know there's always somebody looking for your role somewhere and so pay isn't the only way we keep
people but it's part of it you know looking at that total rewards package. So, and that's it. If you have any questions about that for me, um otherwise I like I said, Sandy can really speak to the um study and and the process that goes into
how she comes up with the numbers. I do have a question. Um with the proposed minimum, mid and maximum of the range is um is there any um plan in place to sort of in get the
incumbent or the individual to the mid-range sooner rather than later. I mean I say that because the town used to do that to the mid-range. Yes. So I think in as Tom said we're we're working on an implementation strategy. Um we do have some people that
are below the min on their position. So, you know, step one is how do we incrementally get those people um in a way in a way that the town can absorb um the increases in to the min and then from there we can look at um these
numbers were based on being 75% in the 75th percentile of um market competit um so that's really you know even based on that the min is still a pretty good number um but yeah I mean ideally it
would be getting people up, you know, but then again, the further you put people, the less growth opportunity there is in that range. So, um, that's really all aspects that are being, you know, considered as we put together the implementation plan. I think the town at
that time recognized that our ranges were kind of low and to try to, you know, encourage people to apply and stay is why we tried to bump them forward to get them into the mid mid at least into the mid-range. Yeah. And there was a lot of data there. Sorry to
interrupt. And this is one of the reasons why we went with the 75th percentile because we wanted to be that competitive and we wanted to make sure that again that min number is much better than another min number somewhere else. Right? So and these numbers change so
quickly so quickly that we wanted to land somewhere where we weren't going to have to redo this in four years, you know, where we can exist comfortably and still remain competitive and and equitable. So good. Thank you. Absolutely,
Audra. There's um several uh positions here where the current salary is significantly higher than the uh proposed minimum salary. Yep. So, in a case like that, obviously, you would not subtract from an individual's
contracted salary, but would you just take the position that there wouldn't be an adjustment to get them to minimum? that there would just be an annual cola like how that's pretty much what we've been discussing. Yeah. And a lot of that the
reason you see that in the specific positions mostly is driven by wage compression within the department. So, and when you and most of those people are either have been here for a very long time and have just built on these increases throughout their career or
they're newer within say like 5 years and have had to been be placed because of the longevity in the department and the higher salaries in the department have had to be placed on higher levels at start and then so that's how you get that's
there's a lot obviously that so just a quick question. I don't know if this is for you. Um, but as far as the 75th percentile, that means basically if you take a 100 towns, 75th,
75 of them would have a lower minimum than what we That's definitely a Sandy question. Yeah. Why don't I mean there there's a lot that goes into it and and I think it would probably help if if Sandy could um
I let you off the hi pride. Hi, how are you? Good. How are you? Thank you so much for being here. Oh, of course. It's my pleasure. My pleasure. Um, it's very nice to meet all of you. Um, I'm just going to answer the 75th percentile question. What that
means is of all the market data um that we've collected per position, only 25% of the data points pay higher, you know. So um so that that means you're above
the midpoint, you're above the average, above the 65th, you're at the 75th, you know, and usually um you know, so so it's a good place to be and um I'm glad that the town went along with that so you can remain competitive particularly
for this group of positions, you know, they're they're the um department heads and they're high level uh positions and they do as Audra said um retention is a problem with the municipalities right
now. They do move around a lot. So um if you have good people you want to hang on to them and there is a cost you know for um you know hiring you know when you have um a vacancy there is there is a a
cost for turnover um that that is real um with regard to training with regard to you know trying to find somebody and having that gap of work um and losing that institutional knowledge and so forth.
So, what can I um would you like me to walk through the process for you? Yeah, I think a 30,000 foot view would would help and then if there's more specific questions um that'd be great. Okay, great. So um the purpose of this
project was to develop and support you know a fair and um competitive compensation plan for the the non-union uh senior manager department heads professional positions. I believe it's about 30 32 positions that we looked at.
So we uh did a complete compensation and classification review. Um we considered uh comparable data uh for from a variety of communities that were comparable to um East Long Meadow. We came up with a list and we reviewed that uh with
management and um we gathered the data. We did a job analysis which included distributing uh PAQs at orientation sessions and um then we followed up with uh interviews online and um with the
data and then our rating system that we use uh to to rate the positions. we came up with um uh you know the classification plan and and then the uh market data helped us to determine the parameters of the salary schedule. You
didn't really have um a system or or if you did it wasn't implemented. So developing the ranges was really important rather than just having um you know individual uh data points. We we actually you know developed the minimum,
the mid and the max and um and we provided all the market data is in the report as well as and we provided the town with our classification system and the the factors that are listed in our rating system from physical environment
to knowledge ability and uh training and physical skills and occupational res supervision, judgment, accountability and so forth. Um throughout the process we had um meetings either in person uh
or online with uh HR and the town manager. Uh we reviewed survey instruments with them. We distributed them to the organizations and um we uh as I said we conducted the interviews and um we also as part of
this are providing draft uh job descriptions and um you know I mentioned to Audrey if those need to be uh tweaked a little bit some more we can we can do that the job descriptions. Um and then you know we received uh key feedback um
from from the departments and and we provided regular updates and we went through a draft and a second draft and a few drafts to come up with a final um report. So um there's one plan that incorporates all of these non-union
positions um and it's it's flexible um to allow you know a range. So that way if you're hiring somebody with a little bit more experience, you can hire them a little higher than the minimum. Um if they have less experience, you know, you can hire them at at the
minimum. Um the thing to remember about about this plan is that um you know, how an employee moves from minimum to maximum has to do with the employee. Um but the whole structure itself has to be
updated. um with a COLA or a wage adjustment every year. So the salary schedule should be updated whatever the COLA is that you know that you all decide on. Um and uh cuz if you don't do
that um it will become quickly outdated. So you you know every year you want to add add a cola. So that's for the whole structure. But then how people move from minimum to maximum of course would be based on longevity, performance or special skills or abilities and that
sort of thing. Um so the um you all have the study in front of you and um you know it's a very traditional class and comp plan with the grading. you have 17 grades and um you know obviously the
more responsibility that the job has the higher uh level you know that it falls on and um you know if any of these positions have an individual contract obviously the contract would you know would would be what you would go by um
so this wouldn't hurt anybody that has a individual uh contract. Um there's a lot of data. You know, the communities that we looked at uh were um you know, Amherst, Belchure Town, East Hampton,
uh Holden, Long Meadow, Lello, North Brbridge, Palmer, Shrewbury, uh Southbridge, uh Secon. Um and then we also looked at uh West Springfield, Westfield, Wilberham
and um the data points are um as you look at the charts of the market data is the the number of matches that we had, it's hard to match um every single title in every single um community. So um you know, so that that
always will will vary. Um and then the we have the market average the 65th and the 75th and uh then we showed the percentile uh differences. Um we've also provided to the town our rating system and all the rating points. Uh we we
rated all all of the um jobs and um a nice chart to look at is the comparison of current to market to proposed. So um you know that shows that we've now developed something um that has a range
that allows some growth um for for the positions. Um so and and you know we we recommend that it swiftly be implemented um you know uh cuz some of the positions were really uh woefully behind the
market. Um, so having said all that, I was just wondering if you have any questions. I'm happy to answer. Yes. Of course. So I am looking at the comparison of current uh market to proposed under the
75th percentile market. Um, if we're going with, you know, the minimum, I'm just not sure why our proposed for FY25 wouldn't match the minimum. Is it because the data points of our current
position um are different than what some of those are? Yeah, it was it was um well we we kind of had to create a range for you because um you currently um you currently don't
have a range. You just have actual. So um so the there was you know a mathematical calculation that we had to do to come up with the minimums but there's also the maximums are all higher
than what you know the current actuals are. So for example um you know you have uh council on aging 81 DPW uh n around 90 library director about
91. So um you know we came up with a range for that from 819 to to 106. The thing that really matches the 75th is the maximums more than anything else. Um
so um the the minimum we kind of had to work backwards from the maximums to create the minimum because you did not have any minimums. So um you know that that and that becomes um you know a a a
calculation and based on on the market. So and it does the ranges for the most part do fall within the ballpark of of the market. So and also you have to look at the average of the groupings too. So
for example um you know if you look at grade four the um the market minimum is 624 and the maximum is 80 728. So we made it you know 65 to 84. So
there you know there is some mathematical calculations there has to be a certain percentile between the grades and to accommodate you know everybody that's in that grade and we don't want to cut anybody's
um pay either. And I'd like to say that um if anybody falls above um and I don't remember if this is the case here, but if anybody were to fall above the range, we would recommend that they just be grandfathered. I don't think uh Audrey,
did we I don't I'm not sure that we had that. Um we do we have a a handful that fall above. Okay, so we do have a few of those. So what that means is that they were paid um appropriate, you know, above the market for a number of years. And we
don't recommend that their pay be cut, but we do recommend um that you grandfather them and keep them in that um you know on that grade level uh without cutting their pay, you know, because and then you must have people
the other end who um were below the market um and you want to get them up as quickly as possible, you know, at least, you know, in the minimum or in or in the range. Um but I think things things you know are uh it's not good that you had
the individual you know pay rates and that you didn't have a range. So now um you have that you know to make you know distinctions between employees because an employee may fall on this you know the state has something called the MEPA
law the Massachusetts employment pay act and so for that purpose alone it's really important to have a complass plan um to be able uh to group uh positions for equitable purposes uh for equal
equal pay for equal work. Um, and so that's what this does. So this this really uh takes care of that for you. I think um the the thing that's uh really critical here is just uh keeping
it up to date, you know. So uh you know adding the cola every so many years, you know, maybe every two or three years, you really need to test the market and see how you fall. You don't have to do a study every year, but every every couple of years you should test uh the market
and then you know probably every five years you want to look at the classifications again and the whole thing. But um it does you know take some work uh to maintain it. But we we've also given the town you know all the tools you know so hopefully next time
around it's just an easy update for you. So, just a followup. I notice category 16 um there's no positions assigned. Um does that leave room that all of a sudden category 15
um if they reach the top of their pay scale all of a sudden we can say, "Well, you're no longer going to be a category 15. We're going to jump you to a 16." Um is that that's in there or is that um It it doesn't usually work that way,
but you can look at the jobs and you say, well, if they've taken on a lot more responsibility and essential functions, you could look to reclassify them to the the higher grade. I mean, most certainly you could um uh
especially for those two positions. So, um you know, you know, but that's not um it's not an automatic thing that when you reach the maximum of your grade, you automatically go to the next grade. So it doesn't work quite like that. But but sometimes a position does get
reclassified if if there's something that has you know changed significantly in their responsibilities or duties um and and it it would require um uh you know looking at it again for the
classification. So um but we have uh that one is open. Let me see if there's any Can I just Can I just say something really quick? I just wanted to kind of touch on that. So, we have now a document that tells us how to determine based on the language
in a job description what grade 1 through 17 a position falls on. Yes. Is where do we come up with 17 grades? Have one that's doesn't have anyone in it when to be 1 to 16. It also gives us room to grow if we ever develop a
position. It gives extra space between that top 17 um position and those 16 positions. So there is built-in cushion there. So if we um you know at some point it's exactly what I was assuming but
yeah they wouldn't move up to the next step unless they got reclassified again like Sandy said if they took on additional duties things like that. you need to you you have that built. Yes. Something that Yes. that we we probably do at least once a year, maybe
a couple times a year where a position takes on more responsibility. Uh right. For for instance, when the body cameras came on, somebody has to deal with all that, right? So that's a change in their do job description and then you get reclassified. And so
in the unions and so that that's what determines what grade you're on and then the range determines the pay. And so um when you get to the end of that pay range, you don't necessarily go to the next pay range. Um but if there was like say the fire chief also became
the IT director. Sorry. Sorry Ryan. um uh you know then they would likely get reclassified to a higher grade because they now have more responsibility, more job duties, things like that. So yeah. Or it could be yeah there could be a variety of reason. It also helps with
compression too. So um so you have a couple and and if you needed to hire uh another position and you need a couple of blank spots to put you know so you don't want to have it too tight. So I think there are a few throughout the
system. There's um you know Yeah, there's at least two or three. Yeah. John, did you raise your hand? No. Oh, I thought John say no. I I I wanted to say that all of the
employees were were very um helpful and um Audra was extremely helpful and the town administration, the HR department, you know, the whole group was uh very forthcoming for with information that that made it uh made the job analysis
review uh very uh good, you know. So, we were able to understand um now the the job descriptions we've submitted are, you know, they're in um draft. They may have to be tweaked. Um you know, you know, there were a lot that we had to
write um and they're comprehensive. So, if there's um some tweaking that Audrey needs, you know, we can certainly uh do that. Um, but you know, having said that, I just want to say that, you know, adding more words to a job description doesn't necessarily mean that the job
gets reclassified. It just means, you know, maybe something needs to be rewarded a certain way or something, but it's it's not um I think I think we captured, you know, everybody's uh position. Um, and some and some of these jobs are statutory, you know, or they're
contractual, you know, so it's, you know, it's really it's like in law what what their jobs are. Um, I I um it's it's it's really um it's a difficult thing these comp and class studies
because um it's really hard for the employees to understand. What you find a lot is they find like well why why am I holding hands with that person you know why am I in that group and that's um it's sometimes
they're totally happy with their if you were to not show them the groupings and just show them their pay they would be happy but then as soon as they see who they group with they're like oh well I don't think I should be grouped with that person or but we do have believe it or not we have a methodology and a
system for doing that we have our rating system that helps us and you have all the rating points and we have the market um that also helps us and sometimes with some of these jobs there's just a natural ranking um you know you have
that um in in municipal government. So just a quick followup just because we have um the categories with a minimum um I'm assuming that doesn't mean that a new hire necessarily starts at the minimum. It would depend on the employee
at that point, but the job itself would start at that. Correct. Yeah. Ideally, we wouldn't bring anybody in under the minimum. Um, but it would give us room if we got somebody that had like a lot of experience for a position. Um, and that it would give us room. But
yeah, ideally we would be wanting to be starting people aiming at the around that minimum of the range, wherever that was at the time. But is it possible to bring them in under the minimum with the state law or it's not going to justice?
It won't be against the law, but we want to be careful with the practices that we create with our hiring policies and things like that once we implement this plan. Um because when we do it for equity and you know equitable purposes, we don't want to then bring somebody in
under where everybody else's benchmark was um without having really defensible solid reasons for doing so. Um because then, you know, we could be questioned as to why we're not paying them at where we, you know, where we worked to get
everybody else up to. So, it's not undoable, but in most circumstances, it would be unrecommended. And I guess that would be my only point is to take a good hard look at the minimums. Um, there's a few of the categories that I would think want to go
a little bit less uh than what's listed here just in case you bring someone in that really doesn't have any experience, but you know, can grow into the position. Yep. it'll give you a little bit more leeway. So, yeah. And and again, obviously,
you've heard a lot of data points and data and we've we've also had to look at this a bunch too. And we don't even have an imple implementation plan yet because there's this other part of this which is obviously the budget and what we can afford to do when we do implement it.
And again, I I would rather have it to a point where when we do implement it, that's the number, right? We put this number up on the on the website that says we're advertising this position from here to here and this is the right and so but these are the tweaks that we
now have to make for the town of Isan Meadow and what makes sense for us moving forward and again we're not going to make any major changes because again a lot of work already went into this structure but we certainly need to look at our budget and our policies and how
we want to move forward and what works best with us Right. So this is sort of uh laying the groundwork for how we implement this into practice. And my last thing is obviously compensation uh benefits package goes
into it. Did we actually look at what we offer? Like in the health, I think we're at 7030 um as compared to what other towns offer or is this simply um a pay rate uh that
we looked at? So this this study that you have in front of you is pay. Um I have looked at like benefits. I' I've been doing a lot of trying to um we're we're pretty comparable with what we pay. We're on the higher end actually of like good um
you know I think Springfield is really good but as far as what they you know but and it's different too when um they're also GIC there's it's it's different it's kind of um but I think that I'm looking at bringing in other
benefits that aren't going to cost the town um that are just you know what do we what do we call them low low cost highrisisk uh benefit high impact Yeah. Low risk. Don't say the word risk. Yeah. Yeah. Low risk. Low risk.
No risk. No risk. Yeah. So things that you know create that total rewards package that aren't additional drains on our resources. Um but you know so we're looking at a lot of things like that that we can bring in
as well because again it you know retention isn't just pay. It's culture. It's um you know and that culture is a huge huge part of retention. Um it so culture is really big um and it's the
the auxiliary benefits the um things like that. So we're really looking at it from all angles. This is just the money piece. Now I could talk for hours but I'm good. Okay. Anybody else? I think I think this
is a a really good report. Um I was actually looking at the estimated cost out to move employees new minimum. I don't think I mind it. It's kind of like we're kind of in a good spot. Would you say? Uh yeah. I I think you know we were we
landed right around where I thought. I knew there would be some some lifting we would have to do, but overall we, you know, and a lot of that comes from, you know, having, as Marilyn, as you had said, having previously kind of aimed for that mid-range and, you know, and
and so I think that, yeah, I think we're in a good good and we're not like way behind the ball and and we and we mortgaging town. We budgeted. I just wanted to make sure I was reading it right, but I was looking at I'm like, "Okay, I think we good." No, it yeah obviously that are below but most of
them are a lot of them are almost uh mid. Yeah. Right. We did in the budget already. Right. Yeah. Knowing that we were going to have to Right. Right. So it puts us ination.
Awesome. Thank you Sandy was great to work with Sandy. Oh thank thank you very much. You have a real structure now. It's very good. Thank you. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye Sandy. Thanks. Thank you guys. Thank you so much.
A lot of work. We appreciate it to think about. I know. Yes. I just want to add if I can, Anna. Um I think it's great that we have this structure now and so it's not just the wild west with some of this. Um I do echo that bad Connor.
No, I know. But it's it's good to have a bit more formality around it. Yes, I agree. Have some structure. I do echo Ralph's comments though about the minimums and especially like how that might factor into the budget because while I agree with many of them, there are a couple
though that seems a little odd that like some of the people in a department that are doing a lot of the work are making like less than half of what some more senior positions might make in that department. Not that that's necessarily out of bounds with surrounding
communities, but it did give me a little bit of pause seeing some of the grades for some of those titles. Okay. Noted. Yeah. All right. All right. Any action items, Scott?
Uh for our next meeting, we should have a capital project recap. We'll have the recommendation from the licensing committee meeting that we had last week. Um, we should have the last quarter donations that we'll accept
and potentially we'll have some, if it's not for next meeting, the first meeting in October, uh, some metrics from the police and fire department that we used to get at some of the council meetings from a few years ago and potentially some data from the new uh, radar speed
signs that have been installed in town. Yeah. That's all I had for action items. That's it. Before you would thought maybe the end of September fiber. Yeah. So, we did towards October.
Yeah. We met with uh we met with Westfield Gas and Electric Whip City Fiber uh last Wednesday. Um we're still sort of waiting on the final numbers from the utility
company. So that in all likelihood uh to put something together will happen in October even if we were to get the numbers yep this at the end of this week which we won't. Uh but we're we're really close now um and to a point where we can put a number on this thing and and and look look
forward to an action plan. Perfect. Good. Anything else? We should just hang out here a little longer. Sure. That's what Conor wants to do. All right.
Seconded. Yes. Yes. I'm a yes. Yes. Marilyn. Yes. Yes. Conor. I'm a yes. And great job. I'm a yes. Have a great night, everyone. Thanks. Enjoy yourself.
Conor, have fun. Thank you.