===PAGE 1=== Town of Lunenburg Personnel Committee Minutes: March 16, 2021 – Zoom Meeting Attendees: Joanna Bilotta, Susan Andrews, Eric Arnold, Wendy Bertrand, Donna Fortune Also Present: Julie Belliveau, Asst. Town Manager/HR Director, Nancy Forest, Payroll & Benefits/Risk Manager, Barbara Lefebvre, Sewer Business Manager, Pauline Roy, COA Outreach Coordinator Meeting began at 7:14 pm with all attendees present, E. Arnold Committee Chair presiding, This meeting will not be recorded as we are utilizing the library Zoom Account which does not have the cloud recording feature. Public Comment: The minutes from the March 9, 2022 meeting were not posted, but are being displayed in this meeting for review. Public comment questioned if the corrected version of the SAP was available. J. Belliveau was able to display those areas that were covered at the last meeting. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the March 9, 2022 meeting, which were displayed for the group, were reviewed. Motion by J. Bilotta to accept and approve the minutes of the March 9, 2022 meeting as presented, Second: E. Arnold Roll Call Vote: All in Favor New Business: Although out of order, the group reviewed a New Hire Form that J. Belliveau submitted for a new hire as a Board Clerk/Secretary that will support the Economic Development, and the Storm Water Committees. These roles have been difficult to fill and candidates with experience need to be brought in at a step higher in the salary grade. She recommended that this candidates experience supported their being place in Grade 6 step 2. Motion by S. Andrews to accept the recommendation of the HR Director to hire this candidate In Grade 6 Step 2. Second: J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor ===PAGE 2=== Ongoing Business SAP by Law Review J. Belliveau placed the updated SAP sections that the group worked on previously so the group could review the changes they voted on at the last meeting. Although there were questions on several sections, most were clarified with more discussion and all found to have been updated as agreed upon. As the group had identified previously, there was an open question regarding a section that was totally removed from the SAP by laws, based upon the Legal Counsel’s recommendations. That was Section 27 Discipline, and our guidance was that it was fully covered in the Towns Charter so did not need to be in the SAP. J. Bilotta reviewed the charter to confirm that this was accurate, and found that the section on discipline in the Town Charter was more general information and did not include the specific detail that had been presented in Section 27 of the SAP by laws. The group felt that this detail was essential to fully understanding this information. Motion by E. Arnold to reinstate the entire Section 27 Discipline, into the SAP by laws, as it was previously represented, with one change, that the word Probation in Paragraph B be removed, leaving the words “waiting period”. Second: J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor Now that we have completed the update on the SAP by laws, J. Belliveau will provide the group with the final amended version for a full and final review, prior to presenting to the Town Meeting. Town Warrant Articles for Personnel Committee J. Belliveau presented a proposed draft of the items that would be needed to be presented at the Town Meeting in April. The first paragraph covered several new positions our group had previously approved be presented at the next Town Meeting. The second paragraph covered the approval of the replacement Salary Schedule for FY23, FY24 and FY25. Motion by J. Bilotta to accept the proposed language submitted for the first two warrant items from the Personnel Committee that outline new positions, and the new Salary Schedule for the next three fiscal periods. Second: W. Bertrand Roll Call Vote: All in Favor J. Belliveau proposed draft of the third warrant item covered the update Section 70 of the Code of Lunenburg, which outlines the SAP by laws. It stated several sections that changed, noted as 70.17, 70.21 and 70.28. Section 70 in its entirety covers the SAP by laws, so it was unclear why these specific sub-sections were mentioned in the warrant. There were many more subsections that had been amended. ===PAGE 3=== Motion by J. Bilotta to amend the third paragraph of the recommended warrant article to remove the reference to the various sub-sections. Second: F. Fortune Roll Call Vote: All in Favor Proposed Salary Grid The group began a review of what were options to changes to the current SAP salary grid. All agreed that the minimum wage changes that the state had incorporated should also apply to municipalities like Lunenburg, even though that was not a compliance requirement by the state. That rate is currently $14.25ph and will go up again next year to $15.00. That change would be quite dramatic to Grade 1 through Grade 3, and by extension the next few grades. The group acknowledged that trying to expand the same increase calculation across every Grade was not appropriate, as the upper grades were more inline with market conditions and did not need to be expanded in the same manner. Several options were discussed and the impact the cost of any change reviewed. We determined that some additional calculations were needed to see various options and the cost of those options needed to be fully examined. All agreed that the town’s budget implications had to be considered. E. Arnold agreed to continue to examine and map out options that might be considered, share those options with the group so that they might be fully explored at the next meeting. J. Belliveau and N. Forest agreed to assist him with additional financial information that would allow of full budget assessment. Although the group agreed that having 20 grades seemed to be excessive, they also agreed that given the limited time available before the Town Meeting, that the work to examine the number of grades would be postponed to later this year. Public Comment There was no additional public comment Next Meeting: The group agreed to meet again Monday March 21, 2022 for a virtual meeting at 5pm Motion by W. Bertrand to adjourn meeting at 9:23pm Second: J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor