Meeting
Minutes
Title: Compensation Committee 4th
Meeting
Date:
Location: Westport Island Town Office Conference
Room
Subject: Compensation Committee Report
Proposal
Pre-Work: Submission of Completed Reports & Attachments, any open Action items.
Objective: Review and approval of this meeting agenda. Review & approval of minutes from last meeting. Discuss any additional data compiled. Approval of final warrant. Compile report for submission. Review for proposal at Selectmen’s meeting on September 20th.
|
Topic |
Type |
Responsibility |
Time |
|
Review agenda and
approve any changes. |
Discussion
Consensus |
All |
5 Min. |
|
Review of minutes
from last meeting; make changes and approve. |
Discussion Consensus |
All |
7 :05 10 Min. |
|
Present corrected
data on municipal government costs. |
Information Discussion |
Presenting : Richard |
7 :15 20 Min |
|
Any other relevant
items or additional material to be presented before final approval of
warrant. |
Information Discussion |
All |
7 :35 20 Min |
|
Present and discuss
any proposed changes to draft warrant as written. Approve individual
articles. |
Information Discussion Consensus |
All |
7 :55 20 Min |
|
Final review &
approval of warrant as written. |
Information Discussion Consensus |
All |
8 :15 20 Min
|
|
Discuss final wording and structure of
compensation report. Collect all attachments, prepare report for presentation
at selectmen’s meeting. Delegate tasks. |
Information Discussion Consensus |
All |
8 :35 15 Min |
|
Public Comment |
Information Discussion |
Public |
8 :50 15 Min |
|
Response to Public Comment |
Information Discussion |
All |
9 :05 10 Min |
|
Wrap up |
Discussion
Consensus |
Scribe |
9 :15 10 Min |
REQUIRED: All Compensation Committee members (Including Alternates)
FACILITATOR: Dennis Dunbar
SCRIBE: Richard DeVries
Joelle Webber, Sarah
Rhinelander, Dennis Dunbar, Dave Bertran, Richard DeVries, Reggie Lee
Missing due to other pressing requirements Tom Cromwell
Mort Mendes, Benjamin Crehore, Norma Dreyfus, Carole Dunbar
1. Letter report to Board of Selectmen with approved Warrant Articles attached.
1. Contact MMA to determine if they have assessed the MMA community for best practice towns. Action: R DeVries 090506 Complete: Answer No, however, ICMA.org has done some work in that area.
2. Conduct
Web Site search for any information on best practice town governments. Action: D
3. Develop
draft performance criteria for recognizing selectmen for superior performance. Action: D
4. Contact the Town of Westport Island office staff and review job description and tasks as part of the benchmarking criteria. Action: S Rhinelander 091206 Complete – report to be a part of the Compensation Committee report as an attachment.
5. Develop inflation factors/Cost of Living Adjustment data. . Action: D Bertran 090506 Complete: Data for State and Local governments was found on the internet and provided to the committee.
6. Assemble
MMA salary data for selectmen, appointed officials, and office staff using 2005
MMA Salary Report. Action: D Dunbar and
R DeVries 090506
7. Contact
appointed town officials thanking them for their service, assessing their
satisfaction with their method of reimbursement, and asking them for any
suggestions on changes in the future. Action:
J. Webber 091506 In process
1. Determine
what positions that are a part of the Town of Westport Island municipal
government are mandated positions. Action:
J. Webber and Dave Bertran, 091506 Complete See Attachment 1
2. Develop
the management structure of elected, appointed, mandated, standing committees,
and ad hoc committees for the Town of Westport Island. Action: TBD, Post
3. Complete
a more detailed look at the MMA data. Action:
D
4. Pull
together data on municipal government costs for towns with total commitments +
25% of the Town of
5. Complete the draft list of cost items for running a town and send to committee members for concurrence of the list. Action: Dennis Dunbar, 091306
6. Review and mark-up the draft list of cost items for running a town and send to Dennis Dunbar. Action: All, 091406
7. Complete the cost items for running a town and report findings. Action: Dennis Dunbar, 091506
8. Complete the draft list of towns to be added to the database and send to committee members for concurrence of the list. Action: Richard DeVries, 091306 Complete
9. Review and mark-up the draft list of towns to be added to the database and send to Richard DeVries. Action: All, 091406 Complete only Sarah replied all others were assumed as agreeing to list as there was no response by the deadline.
10. Complete
the data (as much as possible) for towns to be added to the database and report
findings. Action: Richard DeVries, 091506
Not Complete - Data appeared flawed and needs to be redone. Complete
1. Determine
from the selectmen what funds are available to accomplish extra tasks imposed
by the state and legislative body. Action:
Richard DeVries, 091906
2. Obtain
a statement from Eugene Huskins on what duties the First Selectman carries out
in support of his assessing tasks and what that would cost the town if he had
to hire it done or he did it himself. Action:
Richard DeVries, 091906
3. Assignments
to complete summary write-ups by close of business
a. Summary
results of Office Staff and Selectmen interviews – Action: Sarah Rhinelander,
b. Summary
results of Other Town of Westport Island Municipal Staff and Appointee
interviews – Action: Joelle Webber,
c. Summary
results of Inflation Factors and Cost of Living Adjustments reviews – Action: David Bertran,
d. Summary
results of Coastal Towns Compensation reviews – Action: Dennis Dunbar and Richard DeVries,
e. Summary
results of Town of
4. Complete
Executive Summary after receiving the reports noted above. Action: Richard DeVries, 091906
5. Complete
the wording of the four warrant articles using the salaries and stipends
approved at the
1. Provide
letter report to Board of Selectmen. Action:
Sarah Rhinelander,
2. Assemble
final report and route to all members for review. Action: Richard DeVries,
3. Complete
final report. Action: All,
The meeting commenced at
The agenda was reviewed and approved.
The minutes from
Sarah read the following email she had sent out at
“I hate to
make tonight's meeting go anything but smoothly, but I am giving you all a
heads up that I will motion that we add an article to the warrant, in
which we see if the town will vote whether to raise and appropriate an
additional $3500, available to the 1st Selectman, as compensation for the extra
time and effort put forth on behalf of the town. This will be a
separate article, not attached to any other articles, so I cannot be
accused of "sneaking it in". I realize there are many apposing
and strong feelings about this, but I cannot in good conscience fail
to bring this up. A precedent was set with the voters
approving extra compensation for the Ist Selectman last year in
appreciation of his extra efforts, and I feel that it is fair to let them
decide what is right for the town. Whether you want to call it a
bonus or a stipend or a salary, the fact is that the money was
voted in because the people in this town thought that the 1st
Selectman deserved it for his extra work, and as
an acknowledgement that without his extra effort, we would be
spending a whole lot more money on a town manager, secretary
or other full time employee of the town.
$3500
is a compromise from the $5000 given as a 'bonus' last year, and will bring the
total of the warrant from $60,761(last year's total) to $60,690, which is
$71 less than last year's approved warrant, thus not increasing the overall
budget.
I will
propose that we include this as a 5th article in the warrant, and let the
legislative body decide on whether the Selectman will receive this extra
stipend. It will all be up to all at the town meeting, and not to
us.
I apologize
for the late entry of this proposal, but I did not feel comfortable with our
decisions at the last meeting and did not feel like we were fairly representing
all viewpoints in the town. I have been stewing with what the best solution is
to reach a fair compromise, and only just came up with this. We all know
that this is the big issue, and that there is a huge split in the town
over it. I feel that this is the most open and democratic way to settle the
issue, in an honest, forthright way, not trying to disguise it but allowing all citizens
to have a choice in the matter.”
Richard added that he also felt he had let many of the
citizens down as he intended make the motion for $3200 in lieu of the $3100 for
the across the board stipend. He felt the legislative body should have the
opportunity to make the decision as to whether or not the first selectman
should receive additional funds for the extra effort he makes in carrying out
the tasks required to be done by the town. It is very clear that many of the
towns are recognizing the task is too much to be expected from the selectmen.
Dave noted that any additional funds beyond the stipends we had already
approved were beyond the purview of the Compensation Committee. There then was
a discussion on how the extra payment to the first selectman had been
introduced during the
Dave suggested wording for an interim letter report to be provided to the selectmen to which the warrant should be attached. The following wording was proposed:
“The Compensation Committee reached unanimous agreement on the salaries and stipends per the attached warrant articles using data from MRS, MMA, DOE, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If there are questions at the Town meeting with regards our recommendations one or more of the committee members will be present to respond to any and all such questions.
You will receive the complete report within two weeks.”
Richard made a motion that the wording on capping the warrants on the proposed warrants he had proposed should be removed in all instances. Reggie seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Dennis made a motion that wording should be added to the Assessor Agent support warrant that a log should be kept on the hours expended on a bi-weekly basis. Dave seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Richard abstained from voting on the first article due to the fact that his wife’s salary was included in the article. He relinquished his vote on the article to the remaining alternate Joelle Webber. Dave noted that he had been one of the persons who had originally criticized Richard’s actions and he was wrong in so doing. Richard had proven to be an honest and reasonable participant. He felt it was not necessary for Richard to abstain. Richard stated there were others that felt there was a conflict of interest. Dennis agreed with Richard and felt it was in Richard’s best interest to abstain. The warrant passed unanimously as modified.
The remaining warrants were reviewed and all passed unanimously as modified.
Ben Crehore
(Paraphrased as best I can) I have a problem with the committee’s use of the word unanimous. At the last meeting you passed the articles with a unanimous vote. Tonight you passed the articles with a unanimous vote and deleted the capped wording.
Mort Mendes
(Paraphrased as best I can) I object to removing the
phrase "This is a capped article" from the draft warrants. I
believe that the committee should retain the position that the articles should
clearly state they are capped to reduce the risk of a floor proposal at Town
Meeting that would redivide the community and undercut the committees follow-on
work proposal. He also argued that he understood that our votes at the
last meeting were for the full draft warrants, not just the actual salaries and
stipends.
Dave and Dennis responded that the focus of the last meeting vote was on the figures not the wording, as they recalled, and that the language of the articles implied that they should not be exceeded.
Richard read the motions from the previous meeting:
“Richard made a motion to accept the salary adjustments
proposed by Dave at the
“Dennis made a motion to establish a pool of money for support of the assessor agent at $13.25 per hour with a not to exceed amount of $2750.00. Sarah seconded the motion and the motion was passed unanimously.”
“Richard made a motion to have two separate stipends and that an across-the-board stipend of $3100 should be paid to each of the board of selectmen. Dave seconded the motion and the motion was passed unanimously.
Richard made a motion that the chairman of the board should be paid a stipend of $5,300. Dennis opposed that motion and made a second motion that the chairman of the board should be paid a stipend of $5,150. Dave made a motion that the chairman of the board should be paid a stipend of $5,200. Dennis seconded the motion. Richard argued that a stipend of $5,200 was not reasonable for the current workload imposed on the first selectmen. Dave argued that the $5200 number was in keeping with the increases provided to the other two Selectmen in the previous motion. A vote was called. The motion passed unanimously.”
Board of Selectmen
04578
Selectmen;
The Compensation Committee reached unanimous agreement on the salaries and stipends per the attached warrant articles using data from MRS, MMA, DOE, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If there are questions at the Town meeting with regards our recommendations one or more of the committee members will be present to respond to any and all such questions.
You will receive the complete report within two weeks.
Sarah
Rhinelander
David Bertran
Richard
DeVries
Reggie Lee
Joelle Webber
Dennis Dunbar
Tom Cromwell
Compensation Committee
Recommended Warrant Articles
The following warrant articles are recommended by the Compensation Committee for inclusion in the September 28th Town Meeting.
Article W. To see if the Town will vote to raise
and appropriate the following amounts for Salaries, effective
FY
2005-2006 FY 2006-2007
Admin Assistant/Property $20,888 $21,515
Tax Collector/Treasurer
Municipal Agent (plus fees) $10,284 $10,600
Town Clerk/Registrar of $3,750 $3,865
Voters (plus fees)
Custodian $1,850 $1,925
Constable $722 $745
E-911 Addressing Officer $722 $745
Harbor Master $530 $545
___________ __________
TOTAL $38,746 $39,940
Recommended by the Compensation Committee (5
yes, 0 no)
Article X To see if the Town will vote to raise
and appropriate the following amounts for Selectmen’s stipends, effective
FY
2005-2006 FY 2006-2007
First Selectman $3090 $3100
Second Selectman $3090 $3100
Third Selectman $3090 $3100
__________ ______
TOTAL $9270 $9300
Recommended by the Compensation committee (5
yes, 0 no)
Article_Y To see if the Town will vote to raise
and appropriate the following amounts for the additional stipend for the
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen (First Selectmen), effective
FY
2005-2006 FY 2006-2007
Chairman’s Additional Stipend $5,150 $5,200
Recommended by the Compensation Committee (5
yes, 0 no)
Article_Z To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the following amounts for Assessor’s Agent field support and to set the same:
FY
2005-2006 FY 2006-2007
Assessing Support $2,575 $2,750 (NTE)
Field support of the Assessor’s Agent to be paid at a rate of $13.25 per hour with a total Not to Exceed (NTE) amount of $2,750. A bi-weekly log of the hours expended should be instituted.
Recommended by the Compensation Committee (5 yes, 0 no)
We approve these meeting minutes of
Sarah
Rhinelander
David Bertran
Richard
DeVries
Reggie Lee
Joelle Webber
Dennis Dunbar
Tom Cromwell