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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1964-12-19-min 494 ,K) cr Cr SELECTMEN'S MEETING December 19, 1964 A special meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, on Saturday, December 19, 1964, at 9:00 A.M. Chairman Cole, Messrs. Brown, Burnell, Cataldo and Sheldon were present. Mr. Gray, Executive Assistant, and Miss Murray, Executive Clerk, were also present. The meeting was held to give the department heads an opportunity to express their ideas and recommendations in regard to salaries for 1965. Mr. John J. Carroll, Superintendent of Public Works, presented his thouggts as follows: "Number one, I think that I explained in my letter that the Board should be thinking of some type of a longevity raise, something so when an employee reaches the maximum in his grade, he has something to look forward to. You could give a 2% raise ev ry other year. You can do it on a lump sum basis. You could give him a small amount of money each year. You coulkdo this every five years. I do feel the average employee who is not the type of individual who is going toadvance much beyond the position he is in, should have something to look for- ward to keep his initiative up. It can be stated so that if the individual does not merit it, it can be cut out." Mr. Sheldon said it could be discretionary. "My problem is to hire a man who is going to be a laborer for twenty-five years . I was talking to one guy who said the big thing is 'I have nothing to look forward to. I have reached the maximum and am not foreman caliber so I look forward to the next years the same.' I think this year the Board should consider giving a general overall increase. I have the figure of 5% in mind, but actually I don't know what the figure should be. There were no raises last year. There is no question abcut the fact salaries are on the increase every place. I do want to point out one thing, and I do respect the Board's authority. Last year, the Police Department got a $300 raise so that now patrolmen who work S-13, the same as a grade 2 civil engineer, net S-14. I understand there is a problem getting patrolmen. The Lieutenant and Chief have gone up a step. I have an Assistant Superintendent of Public Works and an Assistant Engineer. There has been some change in the Evans' Plan which has thrown this whole thing out of kilter. I believe the Board should 4 " consider the problem of the salaries of administrative 11 personnel all through the whole departments. My feeling is the department heads have a great deal of responsibility and in some cases, compared to outside industry, the amount of salary a department head is getting for a similar job in industry, is quite low. I know my responsibility and people in outside industry are making more than I am. I am not speaking only for myself. At the present time, there is no organization, any type of Union. I don't want to see any. I don't think we have to kowtow to employees, but I think the Board should stay ahead of the employees. One way is to increase the fringe benefits. For instance, many towns are paying for all the Blue Cross and Blue Shield. This could be one way of increasing salaries. You could even give larger vacations. I am also going to consider asking the Board to reduce the hours in the Public Works Department from forty-four to forty. Out of twenty-six towns, we are the only om work- ing forty-four hours." Mr. Cataldo asked if Mr. Carroll meant the Board should reduce the work week to forty hours, leaving the pay the same, thereby increasing the pay rate. He said this would be a 10% increase as far as the Town is concerned. "This was done for the Fire Department." Mr. Cataldo said the Town could pay the same amount of money for four hours less work. "It would not be 10%." The Chairman said this would mean more men. Mr. Cataldo asked how many men working forty-four hours. "Forty men." Mr. Cataldo said the department w( uld need another four or five men. Mr. Brown asked if Mr. Carroll felt any relief on this business of people putting in their own sewer and water connections. "Yes, but I know I want extra men this year whether we go to forty hours or not. Depending on what the Board does, I am asking for five men this year without this." The Chairman said Mr. Carroll would be asking for nine or ten. "If the Town wants the services in the public Works Department, we have to have the people. Paul has more school grounds and play areas to t ake care of. Every school with a large area and any athletic facilities, we maintain them. We take care of the Fiske School, William Diamond, Estabrook School. The Chairman asked Mr. Carroll what percentage of the Park Department budget is assigned to schools. "I don 't know. It is not just schools. The center playground area is becoming more complex. The athletic program in the scho' is is becoming fantastic and they tee off if the field is not right for them. We line up the fields, put rollers on the track. If you compare our &7 v personnel to comparable cities and towns, we are away below. On highways, water and sewers, take the miles of street. We have more miles of street in most every case than comparable cities and towns and less men by far." Mr. Cataldo stated Lexington has a different oper- ation than many cities and towns. "You can get an idea by comparing five or six of these towns." Mr. Cataldo asked if these cities and towns installed their own services. "I did not get into that. We put in our own water mains. Water mains is one thing I feel we can do well and we should do because it is a little more complicated than other things. It is something a Water Department, I think, should do. It is much cheaper. We have a situation where if a mechanic wants to fix a truck, he can pull it off the line and another one can take its place. We have a real good maintenance program. We have to face up to these facts. The Town has to face up to these facts. The Schools take precedence. " Mr. Cataldo said one should not take the attitude that the school takes precedence. He said he did not agree with this. Mr. Brown said in spite on the additional cost of taking care of school grounds, he thought it is cheaper to have Mr. Carroll's Department do it anyway. The Chairman said many things being done by departments under the Board's control affect the schools and it should be recognized that the schools are costing more than what is showing. Mr. Cataldo said as far as the bookkeeping goes, it all comes out of the same pocket. The Chairman said there is a certain amount of work done and money spent by Town departments for the School Department and he did not think it has been recognized. Mr. Cataldo pointed out that the Women Police Officers, sidewalk construction and plowing are because of the schools. He agreed that there is a substantial amount of money spent by other departments to help out the school. At 9:30 A.M., Fire Commissioner Bailey and Chief Engi- neer Beleastro met with the Board. Chairman Fitzgerald arrived at 9:40 A.M. Commissioner Bailey presented his thoughts as follows: "I think, in looking at salaries in general every- where, our business - we plan automatically where merit raises are considered, you are going to be faced with a 5% increase per year. Something like 4% for merit and 1% for cost of living. The difficulty is, what do you do when the guy hits his maximum. The only remaining question is how you make up the progressive 1% cost of living increases. How much pressure is exerted because of what other towns are doing. Is the wage a living wage. Is it one where a man can raise a family decently. We are still not quite in step, but I think we are trying to take steps to get there. We would want to share in anything that is to happen generally in the Town. We have no quarrel with the step-rate increases . The basic amounts seem to be inadequate to do the job. The Chairman asked if the Commissioners would say it is fair to say every position has a maximum beyond which it cannot go. "That is a very fair statement. This has to be anywhere." The Chairman said there is a limit for what a job calls for. Mr. Cataldo asked if the Commissioners had any problem in the area of getting the type of men they want. "No, I don ' t think there has been." Mr. Brown asked about the Commissioners ' thoughts in regard to hours. "I am sure that some time in the future there is going to be pressure put on for a forty-eight hour week. I don't know how long it will take that to happen. My own personal feeling is the 50.4 hour week will hold for a fair spell. I would like to see it hold for three, four or five years. " The Chairman said on a 50.4 hour week a fellow puts in good stretches of time altogether so he does have good days off that can be utilized for other things he can do. "Forty-eight hours would be more difficult to fit into the schedule ." Mr. Fitzgerald - "The 50.4 hour work week was at the request of the personnel and they preferred it over the 40.8. " Belcastro - "The 40.8 would take too many men to replace. " Mr. Fitzgerald - "Yes, but the cost to the Town would have been much greater. " Mr. Sheldon asked if the Commissioners saw any problems this year that would be any different than other years, salarywise. Bailey - "There is one problem this year . We are going to make every effort to achieve parity with the Police Department . This is a special circumstance. " Mr. Brown asked about additional men. Bailey - "We would like ten new men. Looking ahead during the next ten years, increase in population. The number of calls we are having per day and the coverage and coalmen is on the ragged edge." Mr. Sheldon asked how many men are on limited duty. Belcastro - "Five, not including Gourdeau. Mr. Sheldon asked if these men are being used on desk duty on a basis different from the shift basis so they will man the watchroom. X98fs psut tr q J Bailey - "We looked into this in some detail. It turned out that the heart cases were the only ones that could not be expected to get out and go, go, go. There were only three of them at that time and it did not make sense to try and work out a special schedule . The two back cases are coming back well and will be back driving . The other back case is coming back. Until we get enough more individuals on completely limited duty, it did not work out. Mr. Sheldon said these men were, in fact, performing a regular function in a regular shift. The Chairman asked how many men were on the waiting list. Fitzgerald - "Regardless of the qualifications?" Mr. Cataldo said last budget time they had sixteen. Fitzgerald - "I would say probably there are between eight and ten applications down there now. Some have been withdrawn, others are not interested. The Chairman asked how many of the eight would be acceptable Fitzgerald - " Icould not tell at this time . " Bailey - "It was getuing thin." The Chairman asked about the investment on a new man. Bailey - "The Total cost of a new man to the department . Almost all of our budget is personnel. If you had 10% on the If you add 10% on the base salary, then a little less after that . " The Chairman said for ten men it would be roughly $50,000. Bailey - "Something on that order, possibly a little more, say $55,000. The argument made at Town Meeting troubled me, pointing out thatthe policemen were rn_quired to be in front of the public at all times and the demands on him are greater than the firemen. He is required to be in front of the public for his eight hour shift, which is true. You have to take the other 10% of the tctal fireman' s working time which compensates for the time he is watching the T.V. To be a good fireman, you have to go all the way. I don't like this salary distinction made. Mr. Cataldo said it was not on the basis of the Board deciding to make the break. This Board overextended itself to be fair in giving the Fire Commissioners a chance to justify to it, giving the Fire Department the same pay, plus the fact the shorter hours entered into it at the same time. He said the thinking presented to the Board at budget time that, other than the fact the police were going to get more money, the Fire De- partment was in good shape moneywise, plus the fact they had sixteen men on the waiting list and they would hire thirteen. There was no problem in getting men Other than the police raise, everything was fine. He 4;9" said the Board did notweigh the two jobs as to which was worth more money. This was not the Board' s approach. The firemen picked the shorter hours over more money. He said the Fire Commissioners could not change their complete position. As of last year, the financial posi- tion was fine other than the police were going to get a raise. He said it is on the record the Commissioners have no problem getting men, and the Selectmen could not change their position because they made their decision on what the Commissioners told them Mr. Fitzgerald - "We received a letter that any salary situation would be taken care of by the Board of Selectmen. We filed a budget with this in mind. We met with the men of the department . They requested 50.4 hour week which we put in. There was no consideration of salaries until we arrived here ." Mr. Cataldo explained the Board did nothing until the Commissioners came in and gave them an opportunity to justify why the Selectmen should ask more money or why the Fire Department should be granted $6100. The question was, if the Police Department did not get a raise, was the Fire Department ib good shape, and the answer was Yes The Chairman said she idea of being equal to another department, this does not necessarily make it right . The Board has two problems which it attempted to solve. This is another year and the Fire Commissioners' problem may have changed somewhat. The Police problems may have changed too, but the Board will take them individually. If there is a general raise, it would be general for all departments. Mr. Cataldo said last year the Board was lead to believe $5800 was a just wage for the Fire Department unless the Police Department got a raise. There was no problem on the wage scale unless the police received a raise. There Care three approaches: One, more men; two, shorter hours, three, more money. Mr. Fitzgerald - "We came back after we found about the differential in pay. We argued very strongly for equal pay" Mr. Cataldo said that was correct, but the only time they came back was tradition. Mr. Fitzgerald - "The Police and Fire have to work very closely in their work. We guaranteed the men we would try and equalize pay at the next budget . I think equal pay has to be considered regardless of whether it is a raise. If it goes another year of unequal pay, we will not be able to cope with the men by bargaining. They feel they should have equal pay. " Mr. Cataldo said the Commissioners would have to justify giving them a raise. tr Fitzgerald - "Give me a reason why they are not equal." Mr. Cataldo stated the Board did not say this in the beginning. The Selectmen did not say the police were worth more. They were trying to solve a problem it had that the Fire Department did not have. Mr. Brown pointed out this was not the time or place for this discussion. He said the Fire Commissioners should come in with arguments why the Selectmen should go to equal pay. The Board is only asking for thoughts today. He asked Chief Belcastro how many call men appeared at a fire. Belcastro - "During the day I have three that go to the station, possibly two." Mr. Brown asked what the budget for call men would be in a twelve-month period. Belcastro - "That I don't know." Mr. Brown asked if the Commissioners requested and got ten new men would they consider dropping call firemen. Mr. Bailey - "If we get the ten new men, yes." Mr. Cataldo said this should be brought up at budget time. The Chairman said the Commissioners are thinking of a 5% raise but more important parity with the Police Department . Mr. Fitzgerald - "They are requesting equal pay. " The Chairman said that whenever any department comes before the Board, it should have the arguments so it gives the Board something to use in weighiig up an answer and arriving at a decision. The Commissioners retired at 10:10 A.M. Mr. Donald K. Irwin, Building Inspector, met with the Board and discussed his thoughts as follows: "I believe you received my letter a year ago. I think you have three problems. The original Evans ' report was fine and something the Town should have done years ago. I believe there were inequalities when it was first established. The biggest problem is that there is no place to go once you hit the ceiling. There must be 80% of the Town employees who have hit the ceil- ing or will hit it. There is no reward fur staying on, nothing to look forward to . In most industries and in our School Department, they have a wheel type basis. As a reward for service for faithfulness and knowledge of the job should be provided for. The Chairman asked if he believed that every position has a ceiling beyond which it should not go; every job is worth so much money and no more. Mr. Irwin - "Yes, I think there is. I think why I bring out here the small percentage I recommend is the clerk who works for me and John Carroll. Using a 2% every two years as a more or less regular basis providing the individual involved is on the ball, they would get the 2%. 4!ill In John Carroll' s case, if he stayed twenty years, there is about $1900 at the end of twenty years . There is no argument that John is worth this. He is worth more. The case of the clerk, if she stays twenty years, it would be less than $1,000. We would end up with $4,309. There may be years where this 2%, the Town could not afford it. I think it wculd give the Board something to work with. Now the squeaky wheel gets the attention. The Police come in with a problem, they have a spokesman and get an increase. Then the other departments are unhappy. " The Chairman asked if Mr. Irwin had checked with other towns to see how this town compares salarywiew. Irwin - "In some instances. In my particular job, I have checked it. It is more or less comparable. A t own of this size with one full-time inspector, part-time plumb- ing and part-time wiring inspectors should not be operating today. This is the same personnel as ten years ago, LTen years ago, there was not Itek, Raytheon, Burrough$vand spools. They all require inspections and some of these run into fifty. They require more time to start with than a simple house plan, I can 1°4 at a house plan in ten minutes. You can 't do this with the other type of building we are getting. There is also an increase in zoning. When I first took the job, no one made any mention of zoning. I did not spend 10% of my time on zoning ten years ago. We have Historic Districts Commission, Board of Appeals, Sign By-Law. " Mr. Burnell asked how much time was spent on enforcing zoning. Mr. Irwin - "A good 30%, answering complaints, calls questions investigating, writing letters. Zoning is a technical subject in itself. You are not a legal expert. For the nonconforming or what, you have to prove your case. If strict enforcement of everyone of these laws with which the Building Department is connected, was expected, a man could spend full time on zoning, sign, Board of Appeals, Historic Districts . The building portion is in itself a full-time job. Mr. Burnell asked if he would expect an assistant to be specialized in zoning. Mr. Irwin - "I think if there was an assistant, he should be familiar with the Boning or someone who could grasp zoning, and be a diplomat . Zoning is a legal problem and the Town can become involved in all kinds of legal problems. It is very time consuming. Now it is a case of what is making the most noise. The complex buildings slould get closer inspection. Even if you just walk through the job it has its good effect. I feel these complex jobs should be hit once a day." Mr. Irwin retired at 10:25 A.M. The Board of Assessors met with the Selectmen and presented their thoughts as follows: 502 z co— Cr Grush - "We want ourirls to be g paid in line with other similar employees in Town. If there is an overall change, we would want the girls to be considered the same way. As far as the level of pay within the department is concerned, you have our request for one change in classification." The Chairman said this is to solve a particular problem. Mr. Cataldo said this the Board would take up at budget time. Mr. Grush - "It does establish a responsibility level through the department . This is basically it. if some- thing should happen to Neil, who is going to be in charge of the office? If he is out in the field, who will be in charge of the office? From my own experience, it would be very difficult to replace a man like Neil with the pay he is getting." Mr. Cataldo asked if he had any thinking on a general salary attitude for the department. All of them are at the maximum level. Mr. Grush - "Yes, except for the one to be changed. There, she will be going at the minimum." Mr. Cataldo asked if the Assessors would be happy with whatever the Board does for other departments . Mr. Grush-"I dont think we have anything specific on that." The Chairman asked if the Assessors subscribed to the theory that every position has a ceiling beyond which it should not go . Mr. Grush - "I would say, No." Mr. McCurdy - "We are all in the position where there is a top. There must be a way of moving the individual up." The Assessors retired at 9:55 A.M. Mr. R. L. McQuillan, Chairman of the Board of Health, met with the Board, and presented his thoughts as follows: "We are recommending an increase for Jim Finneran and a change in Classification in S-3 to #-5, to rate 4, $3900. The Board reviewed the work and believe the skills required are more aptly described in S-5. The Chairman asked if he believed every position has a ceiling beyond which it should not go. Mr. McQuillan - "Yes, I do." The Chairman asked if he subscribed to the theory that there is a ceiling. Mr. McQuillan - "Definitely." Mr. McQuillan retired at 11: 15 P.M. Mrs. Ethel U. Rich, Collector of Taxes, met with the Board and presented her thoughts as follows: "I put in for the two senior girls just that they have an increase this year. I feel the status of living is going up and if we get the sales tax, we will have more debts and that is the reason I put theirs up. My Junior Clerk, would automatically go up." Mr. Brown asked if the others were at the maximum. Mrs. Rich - "For the straight senior clerks - I did not want them to go up to the maximumlbut felt they needed a raise." Mr. Brawn asked if she would take the stand that every so often she would have to ccnsider a cost of living. Mrs. Rich - "It has been two years." The Chairman asked if Mrs. Rich believed every job has a ceiling beyond which it should not go, aside from cost of living. Mrs . Rich - "The longer ycu are in a job, the more important you are to it. I don't believe any ceiling should be set." The Chairman said every job is worth so much money regardless of the personnel? Mrs. Rich - "Well, there should be a ceiling there." The Chairman asked if she subscribed to this in general. Mrs. Rich - "Yes." Mrs. Rich retired at 11:20 A.M. Mr. Vincent Hayes, Chairman of the Recreation Committee, met with the Board, and presented his thoughts as follows: "We have been doing pretty good except in two spots. The most important spot is our Director, Ben. I do have a survey under way, but it is not complete. Each one of us has taken a few towns and tried to get a comparison of what their Director is doing and what our Director is doing. We have gone from a four-month program to an eleven-month program." Mr. Cataldo said the Board wanted a general thinking for salaries in general. Mr. Hayes "It fits our program pretty well." Mr. Brown asked if there was any problem on recruiting. Mr. Hayes "Except for the senior lifesavers and in- structors. We have to come up.to standard. We have three instnuetors now. We will have a fourth one to bring these four people up. In order to hold them, we have to bring them up to a pay scale equivalent to some on the private pools and other towns. We figure if we bring them all up to his level, this will be it for a number of years." Mr. Brown asked how many permanent employees the de- partment had other than Mr. Bertini. Mr. Hayes - "We have twenty or twenty-one." The Chairman asked if Mr. Bayes subscribed to the theory that every job has a ceiling beyond which it should not go. Mr. Hayes - "I think this is true as long as we have the right ceiling." (he Chairman said the point is, there is a ceiling. Mr. Hayes - "Yes. We employ college kids who give . us couple years' service. One big problem we are going to have is with the Director. I talked with Ben and my committee. He has been on the job only a year and a half. 4 G- sr He is hitting the maximum within a year and a half. We agreed to bring him up to the maximum this year and then come up with a survey. The Chairman said when the Committee has its survey completed, it would, of course, be in touch with the Board. The Recreation Committee retired at 11:50 A.M. Chief John W. Rycroft and Lieutenant James F. Corr, met with the Board. The Chairman asked if they believed that every job has a ceiling beyond which the salary should at go, not including a cost of living increase. He said an employer puts a limit on a job as to what it is worth. Chief - "At this time. " Lieutenant Corr presented charts showing population increases for the period 1954 to 1964; valuation for the period 1955 to 1963; tax pate for the period 1955 to 1964; ac,idents for the period 19514. to 1963; investigations for the period 1955 to 1964; number of police officers for the period 19514 to 1964; salaries for other types of work and proposed salaries for the Police Department. The salaries proposed were $12,500 for Chief, $8,950 for Lieutenant, $7,950 for Sergeants, and $6,950 for patrolmen. Lieutenant Corr - "This would cost the Town for the first year $24,855, an increase of fourteen cents on the tax dollar. On a full year, $33,000 or twenty cents on the tax dollar." Mr. Sheldon stated that no matter what figure is selected, there is still the difficulty of Civil Service. He asked if, for argument, the Board picked $6,950, would it get the men. Lieutenant Corr - "Personally, I think so. This would bring the figure into an area where someone can earn a reasonable and living wage. Assuming the bill went through whereby we might hire men from out of Town, we must say to them ' this is what we have to offer you' . We have to offer them something to bring them to Lexington." The Chairman asked who was proposing these increases in other towns. Lieutenant Corr - "The Police Department." The Chief asked if the Board would give his department permission to make this information available to the Chair- men of the precincts. He stated many people have said they don't have enough information." Mr. Sheldon said the Board would like to discuss it first. Chief Rycroft and Lieutenant Corr retired at 12:24 P.M. Mr. Robert Meyer, Chairman of the Planning Board, met with the Selectmen. Mr. Meyer - "Our problem is different. We have a man we like and would like a step raise he is entitled to. If there is a general across-the board raise, we would like to get it for him. He should be just below the Superintendent of Public Works. We would like to keep him for five years and get him up to a position where he could get a job else- where and then start someone at a middle grade. We should keep him at least three years. As far as the secretary is concerned, she will keep in step. We are exploring, at the moment, the pros and cons of having a cooperative student as a part-time as istant. Mr. Meyer retired at 12:30 P.M. , and the meeting adjourned. A true record, Attest: - / , .›r‘cutivTX1erA, Select.in 11 i