Personnel / Finance / Police Committee Minutes 5-15-2023

Publish date: May 16, 2023

Personnel / Finance / Police Committee Minutes 5-15-2023

RUTLAND TOWN SELECT BOARD COMMITTEE MEETING

PERSONNEL / FINANCE / POLICE COMMITTEE

MONDAY MAY 15th, 2023

The Personnel / Finance and Police Committee of the Rutland Town Select Board met at 11:00 AM on Monday May 15th, 2023, at the Municipal Town Hall. Present was Select Board Chair Mary Ashcroft, Select Board Member Matt Getty, Town Police Chief Ed Dumas, Town Deputy Police Chief Ted Washburn, Town School Resource Officer Antje Schermerhorn, Town Police Officer Jimmy Plakas, Town Police Administrator Lyn Gallipo, and Town Administrator Bill Sweet.

Police Committee Topics

  1. Review of issues with the personnel policy related to the Police Department specifically.
    1. Discussed a recent scenario where an officer was on leave, being paid through workers compensation. They were told he would not be able to accrue benefit time during this period. During the time out on Workers Comp, the officer was not being paid by the Town. Benefit time during time away from work has accrued in the past. The Town Clerk has been in contact with our insurance carrier regarding this issue. Holiday time was paid for by the WC benefit during the time away. The committee will recommend to the full board that an employee still accumulate sick and vacation time if they are out and being paid through the WC benefit.
    2. Username and passwords to confidential information related to the police are not subject to the same policy as other town machines. The same exemption applies to email. This may not exempt it from public records requests.
  2. School Resource Officer Car Maintenance Issue
    1. It was originally thought the repairs needed would cost approximately $9000. The actual cost is approximately $900. There was a misunderstanding when it was told to us.
    2. The car will be fixed.
  3. A crime statistic survey was completed in 2016. The information coming from this study is valuable when formulating future plans.
    1. Discussed having this survey done again. The staffing levels have changed significantly since then.
    2. The committee found value in repeating the survey. This will be included in the budget discussion for next fiscal years planning.
    3. It could be possible for one of our officers to compile this information. This would take a considerable amount of their time. A 3rd party vendor compiling the information and creating the report adds a level of validity to the result.
    4. This could be used to shape the staffing needs going forward.
  4. Reviewed the 5-year plan.
    1. The car most recently purchased will be paid off this year.
    2. Several initiatives could be funded through grants.
    3. Discussed hiring someone to write grants for us, across all the departments.
    4. This will be part of budgeting talks in the future as well.
  5. There are no issues with budget overspend projected for the end of the year.
  6. Discussed the program for the homeless being housed at The Cortina Inn coming to an end.
  7. The committee wanted to make sure all the officers were taking their time off to ensure they were not getting burned out on the job.

Personnel / Finance Committee Topics

  1. Comments submitted by the Delinquent Tax Collector
    1. Discussed the requests made by Mr. Chioffi for updates and licenses.
    2. Reviewed how expenses related to the Delinquent Tax Collector have been handled in the past. In some cases, the Town purchases the product, service or license and the current Delinquent Tax Collector reimburses the Town. In other cases, the Delinquent Tax Collector makes the purchases directly.
    3. The Town does not cover costs related to that position.
    4. There are pending requests for updates and purchases. The committee discussed them and declined to approve the purchase of services without reimbursement.
  2. Select Board compensation.
    1. Discussed the best way to submit requests for the stipend.
    2. The process has been inconsistent over the years.
    3. The committee does not have a recommendation, but rather will talk to the full Board to come up with a best practice.
    4. Board members will be reminded and encouraged to turn in time sheets so they can be paid in this fiscals year budget.

The meeting adjourned at 12:43 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet

Rutland Town News

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