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   Town of Lunenburg 
Personnel Committee 
Minutes:  February 21, 2024 
5:00pm – Ritter Building hybrid/call-in 
 
Committee Attendees:   
Wendy Bertrand, Susan Andrews, Joanna Bilotta, Donna Fortune 
 
Also Present  
Julie Belliveau, HR Director, Thomas Gammel, Police Chief, Amanda Moore, Administrative support Police 
Department, Pauline Roy, COA, Paula Bertram, Sewer Dept 
 
J. Bilotta opened the Meeting at 5:00pm with members noted in attendance 
 
Public Comment: 
D. Fortune read a prepared comment regarding the process the group has undertaken and some of the feedback that 
the committee has received over its many applications of this process.  It has been a complex and emotional effort on 
everyone’s part and she expressed frustration in some of the negative feedback the committee was receiving, but 
reiterated the committee’s commitment to completing a fare and equitable project. 
Chief Gammel also spoke of his displeasure in the adjustments the committee made to one of his job descriptions, as 
he felt that upon completing the assessment the week before everyone had agreed upon the outcome, and now the 
committee has independently chosen to make several adjustments that he did not agree upon. 
A. Moore expressed displeasure that an item she felt should be on the agenda was to be addressed in Public Comment, 
she also referred to the changes made to the job description that Chief discussed.  She also did not support the role 
being a new position as it was previously in another group, although new to the SAP.  She also expressed displeasure 
that not all the committee’s meeting were being recorded. 
P. Bertram felt that the committee could not know all the detail work requirements within the police role and the 
changes made were not correct.  She agreed that the roles should be about the work and not the person, and she 
acknowledged the committee was trying its best to successfully accomplish this project.  
 
Approval of Minutes: 
No minutes were available for review. 
 
New Business: 
None 
 
Ongoing Business 
The committee explored next steps.  They reviewed the Winchendon categories and the steps that resulted in the job 
analysis assessments.  There were some issues in the number of levels of work that were identified.  As the 
Winchendon summary resulted in 13 Grade Levels, but we had found support for only 10 Grade Levels used, the 
group’s initial determination of trying to go from 20 Grade Levels as the SAP now has to going to 16 Grade Levels 
that were actively utilized for SAP employees, the Winchendon categories were difficult to integrate.  More review 
was needed. 
The group also reviewed how Lunenburg had applied a COLA over the past few years.  The SAP grid had actually 
been adjusted over the last 6-7 years by an annual adjustment between 2-3%.  The current grid allowed for a 3% step 
increase for most employees within the steps.  So by adjusting the grid each year and the step increase, any employee 
not at step 8 would be receiving approximately 5+%.  Those employees at step 8 (maximum) would receive only the 
adjustment made to the grid, 2-3%. The group then discussed several scenarios of how to move from 20 grades back 
down to 16 grades.  Several options were noted and Julie, Donna and Nancy O’Rourke determined they would work 
out the costs that any of these options might cost if applied to the 2024 SAP salary grid.  One was to drop grade 1, 2, 3 
into grade 4.  Another was to drop grade one and add grade 17.  Another was to drop grade one and then drop step 1 
in each grade in an effort to raise the overall grid.   
J. Belliveau also noted the results of the salary survey she had performed should be reviewed to see impact on various 
jobs outlined, and how that impacted the SAP salary grid.  If there were recommendations to pay retro amounts for 
2024, we recognized that there were groups of seasonal employees that would not be active employees currently. 
 
 
Next meeting dates were discussed, given the quickly approaching Town Meeting the group decided to meet again 
Monday February 26, 2023, to continue this important work. 
 
 
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Public Comment 
A. Moore expressed displeasure with the committee’s actions regarding transparency and her belief that all working 
records should be public record.  P. Bertram expressed that she felt that some jobs were rated incorrectly. N.O’Rourke 
expressed her support to assistance to price out various options.  J. Bilotta expressed that these initial discussions were 
about 2024 and discussions regarding 2025 would happen separately 
 
 
W. Bertrand made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:52pm 
Second:  S. Andrews 
Roll Call Vote:  All in Favor