 So good morning everybody happy new year a little late. First meeting of 2023 and we actually an agenda item pertains to whether we have the whole personnel board team here which it appears we do not. But I don't other than nice to see everybody I hope you had a good holidays and a rare to go for winter slash spring term. Don't rush it Tony. Hmm. Don't rush it. Okay. All right. All right. Got a couple weeks before the term starts. Oh okay well I can't believe how late it's starting at UMass this year February. Yeah, that is. Anyway, I hope everybody's doing well I don't really have any announcements. And we need to move on to, does anybody else have some announcements or greetings or want to tell everybody what you did with the days where he went skiing because it wasn't anywhere nearby here that's for sure. I just got back from Aruba. Oh, good for you. One happy islands. It has a lot like Amherst. There's no snow in Aruba either. It's just like Amherst Tony. I mean, really the similarity is there was creepy. How similar it was. I don't have any idea. Does anybody, let's see, Melissa, do we have any folks? No, there's nobody from the public here. Okay. Yeah, reports and comments progress getting employee representative for the board where are we on that. Who knows huh. I myself was not aware of that item and I'm sorry I'm going to take note of that is that something that we're a five member board and two of the slots are designated Tammy has one that's from the library board of trustees and the other is supposed to be more or less a representative of the town employees who I think I learned last time maybe I knew it already the main criterion is you have to live in Amherst. You don't have to have been a former town employee, I guess. Okay. But you have to live in Amherst. All seem to suggest last time they had somebody in mind. But I that there's not yet happened and I want to push pretty hard on getting that slot. Yeah, I agree and Melissa you weren't you didn't have an opportunity to work when Charlie Sherpa who was our former police chief was on the board he was retired but he was on the board I don't know if you know him or met him, but I think it's really good to have that perspective and point of view in these conversations. Okay, so I will add that to my agenda and follow up on that. I don't know who the person is that Paul seemed to have in mind. Yeah. Well, we just I really want to push on that, you know, they deserve representation. We need as much good input for deliberations as possible it also when there are actually only four members of the board can run into and it's been a close call a couple of times, not having a quorum because when one of us can't be here. We know that we knew that in 10, Tammy's case last time, then if a, if a second person can't be here. No quorum, no legal meeting. So I would like to get that fixed and I'm going to toss out an idea here this may or may not be. Well, I'll just toss it out we have we have two people who are in the area I don't know if either one of them lived in Amherst that certainly know a heck of a lot about the deliberations of this board. And one is the former HR director Deb Bradway, who I think works for Hadley now. And the other is Joanne Mziasek, who just took the job in Delta town. That may be too much of a good thing. I don't know, having all that expertise, we maybe need somebody a little, you know, more removed from the deliberations of the board but I'd like to see that yet. My brain was going a whole nother way. I was thinking. The idea is to have somebody that can that has the pulse of employees what's going on for employees right of the town so I know this is sort of maybe a little left field but like, I don't know if any of you know the app next door. Don't have it. It's called next door. And basically, it's by zip code. And where people get like it's a neighbor thing. So anybody the zip code, you're verified that you live there and you like, you know, you share a bobcat sighting or somebody needs, you know, whatever it's like everything. But a lot of really good networking happens through next door. And I just didn't know. It's very on the ground, and it's people that live in the zip code work live. And so, I don't know, I just, I would seem to me that being on this board would be there's some there would be people that would be like yeah. I would like to do that but would have no idea that this position is here. And so somehow getting the word out through a more on the ground to the people. Good to me. Yeah, I'm not sure about that but I do agree with maybe a more proactive approach to getting a somebody on because I mean that opens up a big can of worms. However, I don't know can can Paul or somebody's, or maybe you already have sent out an email to the current employees to see if they might say, offer a suggestion of a former co worker. Yeah, that was sensitive and paid attention to town management lives in the area. I mean I agree we need somebody and Charlie was great, because he was definitely an on the ground person horse full representative. Yes, yeah, that's right. That's right. When Charlie speaks we listen. Yeah. Yeah, the other just Melissa, a little bit of history that that person that that seat that is often where employees who have an issue will turn first. This is really bugging me I got to give Charlie a call. I don't know more can do anything or what can be done about it. Yeah. Yeah, okay. So it is. It really is best if it's a person reasonably well known to the employees and somebody they would, you know trust and respect to look out for their interest and be a good listener so. I agree with you Kevin I don't know how, if, if this position has been advertised, if it's been posted. But soliciting some input from those folks seems like a very reasonable way to proceed. So that's set it as a goal the next time we meet. We want that person to be a member of the board whoever she or he is. Anything we can do will do, we'll do it. Is there anyone on the list who's recently retired who might be appropriate I don't know enough about town employees but that might be a possibility. Yeah, that's a good suggestion. I like that. I'm just retired after five years. Let's see. George Gillespie firefighter. Oh that's after almost 10 years. Yeah, Stephen call in the fire just retired after 30 years. And 30 years Wow. Oh that's right yes. Lost my. My mathematics ability there for a moment. Anyway, alright let's move on. Next here. New business. Full time non union compensation and classification study. Yeah, about that for a long time. Any news on that front. Yes. So I apologize if this is an old piece of business to me it is a new piece of business. But anyhow the town last did a compensation and classification study in 2014. And of course since that time, wages and the employment landscape has changed significantly. So in an effort to remain competitive and to be an employer of choice, we'd like to endeavor to do another compensation and classification study for non units outside of the school department. The study will determine whether existing salaries and come and the compensation structure for non union employees at the town of Amherst are competitive within today's markets, and will further address internal relationships within the organization to help determine equity. So I have prepared a SQ SWQ which is in quotes as this project $50,000 and responses will be due at the end of the month. So we expect this project to take less than a year and of course before implementing any changes will be to the wages or the classifications will be seeking this committee's feedback. And of course I suspect that further administration administrative action will be necessary, but I will keep you posted as as this goes along. We hope that work will start very soon. Okay, good. SWQ. Seeking written quotes, as opposed to RFP. Okay, I was going to ask you, Melissa, are you reading from an RFP there. This is a SWQ. I am told so I'm new to this process. But because it is under a certain monetary threshold, it's a little bit different of a process. Yes. And what's the upper limit on the budget. 40 40. Okay. All right. And I am, I believe it will be much less than that. Okay. Well, the last one certainly was so we're dealing with 61 non union employees and 48 non union positions. Yes, yes. And I mean that's, that's the focus. But often what the results of that study is when they're implemented becomes sort of a benchmark to look at all the other systems that we've got. So everything has to remain in balance you're going to you're going to discover if you haven't already even though you've only been around full time for about a month is a heck of a balancing act. And that goes on with probably with everything, but with the personnel procedures. And the personnel board, you know, our domain in one sense is rather narrow because our primary focus is just the folks who aren't in the union. And as I'm sure you've learned by now I think the town has five or six unions that you also have to deal with. And they negotiate their own contracts and so everything sort of has to be more or less in sync so that one party is not way out of whack with with the other. Okay, so that's about to go out right that's about to go viral. Yeah, oh yeah we're we're seeking responses by the end of the month. Okay. All right. And I just ask just for process. Is that is this what towns do they conduct studies X number of years after X number of years to determine salary scales. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, every once in a while and I think 10 years is a good mark. We start with surveys of other towns and other regions and maybe for competitive positions we may look to the private sector. And we start with this study and then we compare what we find to where we are to see if, if we're competitive or we need to adjust the scale and the wages. And that work makes total sense to me. The part I'm thinking of is, do we always bring in an external consultant to do that work like, do we just not do that. Well, no, I think that an external consultant is standard and we did do that in 2014. Yeah, I know we did and I'm just trying to I'm like thinking like right. And so, like that's not work that we just do as the town to like survey figure out what's going on we towns higher external firms to tell them what's going on. Yes, and then I were looking also for kind of a guide to help us along for the next, you know, maybe 10 years to do those kind of changes ourselves to help us move along ourselves and then you know, at a certain point we'll want to check back in I guess with the temperature of the employment. Yeah, landscape. Yeah, I'm just learning because I don't come from public, you know, administration come from school the school side of life and it's like, yeah, so like a finance department accountant we would handle like this was going on and the other districts and this is what we got to do and here are the state guidelines and so I just was struck for a minute like oh right do we always go out for an external consultant. I know that where I'm coming from in the Community College system we were looking at doing that. Yeah, all of the college systems where yeah well Community College is great thank you. The answer, Rebecca is almost always by way back when this was when I first joined the board. Long time ago. At that time, the board was actually finishing doing it themselves. Yeah. And I think the learning from that it was well we don't ever want to do that again or say right. It's a lot of work and and I and and it was a lot of work for me and the board members actually did a lot of interviewing and a lot of analyzing and stuff like that and I think I remember specifically they went to the business school to see if folks there had expertise in classification systems and all of that stuff. And basically the learning from that was well let's use a professional who does this and knows how to do it and has data available for comparisons. But I do want to mention with respect to the surveys that actually I think it was only about three years ago when there was a feeling among sort of upper level managers in the town that all of this attention, this is sort of driven by raising the minimum wage and that those positions at the high level were beginning to fall behind. And we were going to try to investigate that and then Paul said, I think great Barrington just did a little survey of their own to see how people at the manager director whatever the classification is it's not quite what we might call the glass ceiling level but so they had done a survey throughout the state. And when that was done we looked at the data and the data said no Amherst is not our managers are not out of whack with what most. There's always a couple of towns in the in the Commonwealth, where they get the money to pay those kinds of rates is there's no wonder about it I think what a town on the Cape seems to have a lot of money I don't know if it was Brookline or some some other place had no pay scales that were generally you know, on the high end a real real stretch so the surveys that are available are consulted. I don't know what their needs are, but we're ready to do another serious look at this with the help of a professional who knows what they're doing and see what they come up with. And let's hope, you know, in the end it's money well spent and the town and particularly its employees are better off or specifically those not in the union but again this is probably going to, you know, trickle down to everybody. Pretty soon unions are going to look at me well wait a minute come on. No we need to do this although in a couple of the unions there's, well I think most of them. But they've got their own really good data, you know what are firefighters being paid and so forth and the police officers, but so I'm glad this is underway. The history is helpful thank you. Yes, could I. Sure. Just also note that I've been watching the council meetings on zoom and there's a lot of pressure right now on the town and the school department that the administrators are making too much money. So I think this, a lot of complaints about fairness and equity so I think this is a very proactive way for us to be dealing because these complaints, although they may have no legitimate backing. To help the morale or the or the credibility at the town so then one other thing. I know this is always seems like the question is the town versus the private institutions, and is there any way we will have some idea when this survey when this work is done now we rank with private companies and particularly in terms of those highly skilled positions where people leave or are tempted to leave. This isn't it. This is about states is about town employees is it not. Yes, yeah. Yes, and I assume, I assume that we will have that data, some idea. I do believe so. It people leave because they could get twice as much in a different town these are how these towns ranked. Yeah, I think we will see that comparison. Yes, it'll be helpful. Okay. All right. Next agenda item remote work policy. Well, since COVID remote and hybrid work because we have become really commonplace in the workplace and in an effort to know it's also desired employee benefit. So again, in order to remain competitive and so that our practices. We want to begin working on a remote work policy. And so my predecessor began some research on some other policies and I'll take up where she left off and continue that research and take a first pass at drafting a remote work policy. And that this committee can help me bet, along with other multiple stakeholders, so that we can come out with something that we can present to the people. I think it's going to take a lot of collaborative work to come out with this. I do have a little bit of experience with this in my past. So I'll also draw from there but it's going to be an interesting process I think. So I asked the dumb question for a member of the personnel board. Do we have a remote work policy now. We do not. Okay. So, getting one kind of seems like a reasonable idea. Yes. So, and I, and I do know that there were it, you know, I think Paul was under some, some duress from time to time about who can work where and who has to be in town hall and that sort of stuff. So, some kind of a policy that can be leaned on by those who make, you know, decisions is probably a good idea. So good luck with that task. Oh, it's going to be daunting. You came to work for the town now. I think it'll, it'll be interesting though. And now there's another not that tiny project on the agenda update on the personnel procedures manual committee review is that's a no small undertaking at least the last time we did it was a pre major collaborative effort so what's happened on that front. So we went into the files and it looks like this group got together a few times in the spring and in the early fall and so I've called them back together our first meeting will be January 23. There's a lot of us I've also invited the DEI director to join that group so it was the last working group has been recalled. And I've all I've discovered a pattern of in their schedule in the schedule for the next couple of months so I'll be able to find a way to meet with the group. I expect we'll meet by weekly until our work is complete but I'll know more after our first meeting, and after I know more of how the group wants to proceed. Okay. So that is underway about to be formed. Yes. Now, Rebecca, I want to go to you because when we were talking about this last time I think you were wondering, you know, what. Would the board be more involved in this process or something like that maybe, maybe that isn't exactly what you were wondering about, but I know, you know for a while. Quite a few years ago I think this might have been before you, you were with us but the board was going line by line on the whole. And then that got to be a lot of work and coordinating it and so forth and then when Deb Bradway said well let's pull together a team of employees and do it. That's turned out to be a much better way to do it process wise besides the bonus of little team building that was that was on that and I don't have any ticket I'm just wondering. And I'm thinking out loud now. And I should have thought about this before because the question I'm asking myself is there any are there any particular parts of that personnel procedures manual that I think we need to pay special attention to. And so Tony is now going to tell himself we'll go look at it and see. And if, if, if there is then tell somebody about it encourage colleagues I'm sure that's what you'd like to do just before you go to bed is to get that old manual out there and take a look at it and if you don't find an issue that needs attention before you go to sleep and that's okay. All right. So Tony were you asking me to weigh in. You, you prepped. Yeah okay so I just want to. So just some thoughts. I think it is would be prudent for the us our board to put our eyes on the manual. I think, I think that's really important I think they're really good protocols for dialogue though I don't think it should be like here's the manual if it feedback. Yeah, that doesn't work at all. If the idea is like maybe the table of contents, and we did a pass of like, you know, like, yeah we should look at that no we shouldn't look at that or something. I noticed when I look at this table of contents what do I wonder something, because I think we should have our eyes on it. Yes it's a better process stronger if it's an employee team, and this board had a whole dimension that it added to that personnel manual about what is professional development for upper managers. How should people work together what does it mean to give feedback what does it mean to supervise things that maybe employees wouldn't. It's coming from their own lived experience in it and our team was coming from a like more global this is how it's going on in the world that we want to make sure it's happening. So, I have a combo of like we should put our eyes on it to see if there's some area that we really ought to dig into. Also, I know Tony and I know all of us like oh the manual read it at night fall asleep I don't know why it has to be that way. Why does a manual use Canva and have graphics and be great and show it's a town of choice to work in like what, why does it. Why does it have to be terrible, you know like or boring, it doesn't have to be so that's just another thing too I think of is like what is the intended use and users of the manual. It could also be this beautiful selling point when you come on board you're like what an engaging interactive manual what what that's 21st century. I just want to put that perspective in there as well, like we've totally redid our graduate student handbooks in the College of Ed, to make them something that students are like using, and then we use it in our marketing materials and anyway. That could be too much who wants to do that nobody wants to do that okay, but I just want to put it out there. Well, I was just doing a very quick search real time on, can I find the old manual, and the answer is no, not in 60 seconds, but look what I did find. I don't know if you can read it. Final report. The last one. Which goes back to another thing that's on the agenda was on the minutes from last time and I think I asked about it, or somebody did that. Could we get going in using some sort of communication set of tools where it's not like where's the manual, we just go to the drive, or the team folder, or they like there it is that we just would pull it up right now we've having in front of us. So. So, I think we do we do have a mechanism for that we have a shared drive that people can access. I don't know if you have access, you probably should but I thought the comment was more geared toward when we start working on it, can we put it in a shared doc. That's the notes I took, but that could be good to just like right now we're talking about the, we're talking about it. There was a link in the agenda right now even PDF so visually we were looking at it together. Just be so helpful. Okay, yeah, and just do you have access to that J drive I think it's the J drive right Elizabeth. I don't know. I don't know. I think not but I don't know is the more accurate answer. So, okay we'll look into that. Right. I think we're ready to take a look at the latest staffing report. Which didn't show a whole lot of action comings and goings. And I don't think there's a fact. I think only one person has been hired since the last report. And everybody who has come and gone in the last month they're all white people. There are two men left and one woman is come on board in public works. So as a quiet month of hiring and departing. Can you just maybe I'm a little bit curious, what are the searches that are going on right now if there is there. I mean, for, for example, let's take the police department. About which we read in the paper now and then some folks thinking they're too many and something they're not enough to are there is a police. And this is just for my own interest and and if it more is everybody else we don't have to talk about about our is the police department looking for more folks do we know. I know that they're Elizabeth guy. I was just going to say I know that you took part in some interviews. A couple of weeks ago for a patrolman yes. So I think that they are trying to get ahead of it so that when the next Academy happens, they have some prospects already lined up for it. Yep. And how about fire. Are they. I don't think they've started interviewing but I know we put an ad out for firefighters I think beginning in December. So I think that they're sifting through all the applications that come in and in the coming weeks will be setting up interviews. Okay. Any other areas that are needing to be. Elizabeth mentioned last time the planning department is is down to planners so I think that they think they did interviews last week. So I think they're going to be making decisions this week or next week about who to move forward with. Okay. And Elizabeth I don't, I don't know if you know, but I'm pretty sure. The board does a whole lot of hires a whole lot of part-timers for the summer. Right. And I, I, I don't know how they do that. I think it must go reasonably smooth because I don't think that's ever been an issue that the board has had to pay attention to, but I would imagine at some point this spring, there's you guys in the HR department are going to be doing a lot of paperwork, bringing that's what I heard. Yes. I think early, maybe to mid spring, before the summer comes, I think Amherst rec hires quite a bit of staff. I obviously wasn't here for it this past year, but I think we're going to try to be well prepared. I know that E in our office has been doing had done a lot of work with the rec center to make it more smooth and is working actively with them to make that a smooth onboarding process. I think leisure services does has more part-timers than the rest of the town combined by by several factors, because of all the part-time help. Even not just in the in the summer but you know, basketball referees and things like that. Okay. So, again, moving along here, I think we're ready to look at the minutes of our December meeting and see if we need to make any revision for additions, exceptions. If not, do I hear a motion to approve the minutes of the December 21. I make a motion to approve. Is that going to get any discussion. All they were say aye. Aye. Opposed abstentions. Okay. So I'm not voting because I wasn't there. Okay. All right. Next, board meeting. We put February 15 there with a sort of a question mark because and this is actually I'm looking forward and I'm sorry Paul isn't here to now is about the time when we start talking about the annual employees meeting. Normally has been sometime in March, and it's a big deal Melissa. Paul, the town manager is usually the star attraction because he has a few things to say and brings everybody up to date, particularly on wage and salary and cola and things like that. And it's for the, for the board members, it's mostly for us a listening session. What's on your minds, you know what do we need to be paying attention to. And so that's what that's what we do. My memory is. And let me see. Rebecca and Catherine, I think that March meeting last year was shoved back to April. Maybe even may I know it was one year I think Paul felt that if we delayed it by a month, he'd have more to say. So, I'm just raising the issue about that pretty important meeting. As we talk about whether or when we meet in February. Let me see I think from some of the things Melissa just said we might have some important news to talk about then. Right on the, for example, how the work is going on looking at the manual and, and you said that the bids were, were, were due the end of January. Right. So, well, we'll be able to identify who's working with us. And at that point I think they'll have hopefully begun some interviews with some directors and and other people. Also, I think I'll have something on the remote work for you. Okay, so, so because we have from time to time when when it's known in advance that we're very unlikely to have anything super urgent or super important at our normally scheduled next monthly meeting we'll just say well let's wait until the next following month but I'm what I'm hearing is yeah we should go ahead and change the take away the question mark about the February meeting it will be Wednesday the 15th. Does that sound right to the rest of my colleagues. So, you raise the question mark move it from pencil to ink as we old fashioned folks used to say I just want to put out there that I had a permanent meeting that day. That time. Well, what a terrible conflict for you Rebecca now. Let me tell you I prefer to be at this meeting. Well, then, you know, you need, you have a higher calling the citizens. The meeting is not till 1030 is our meeting at nine. Yeah. Oh, okay it's fine. You can handle it. I can definitely handle it. Yes. I remind me was our was the meeting on zoom last year we didn't come in for it did we. I think it was on zoom. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah. All right. It used to be a packed house. Where was it held in the past. Yeah. Okay, of course. Yeah, which had more room and it does now had more room than two. Yeah, but it's been several years since we've had that townwide employee meeting in in person. Yep. So, I think we're, we're, we're agreed that we will meet February the 15th. And any other issues to put before this August body. If night see you can make both meetings next on the 15th. Next Rebecca look it isn't even quarter to 10 yet so are we ready to adjourn, go find a cup of coffee you got a little extra time. Okay. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Have a good afternoon. Bye bye.