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10/02/2018 01:16 PMUntil three months ago, the Town of Westbrook had a full-time town planner in Meg Parulis, who left for another position. Before the town hired a new planner, however, First Selectman Noel Bishop checked to see whether other towns of similar size had full-time planners. When this revealed that only one similar town had a full-time planner, Bishop recommended the Town of Westbrook change the position description from full-time to part-time. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) agreed.
“In the budget process, I surveyed 33 towns. Except for one, not one of the other towns had a full-time town planner,” Bishop said.
Planning Commission members, the body for which the town planner provides staff support, objected to the proposed shift from full-time to part-time. Marilyn Ozols, long the chairman of that commission, listed many tasks for which the town planner was responsible and that she said required a planner working full-time to accomplish.
Despite the Planning Commission members’ objections, the BOS agreed that Bishop should post the opening as a part-time position at 24 hours per week. No town benefits are paid until an employee works at least 26 hours per week.
Late last month, the BOS interviewed three candidates for the town planner position. After each learned that the part-time post would carry no benefits—no health insurance would be provided, for example—none of the candidates were willing to accept this part-time position, were it offered to them.
So last week, the BOS revisited the issue.
First, it agreed to pay Town Zoning Enforcement Officer Eric Knapp a stipend of $100 per month to spend four hours per week on planning matters until the town could hire a new planner.
Next, the selectmen discussed the options available. All appeared to agree that having a planner on-staff and in-house was preferable to relying on consultants or intermittent help from the staff of the regional River Council of Governments, of which Westbrook is a member.
“To be a town planner, you need advanced degrees and you should be paid for that,” said Selectman Mary Labbadia.
The town—and by extension, the town planner—also has mandated requirements for keeping municipal plans like the Plan of Conservation and Development and the town-specific Hazard Mitigation Plan up to date.
Every five years, towns are required to review and update the town-specific hazard mitigation plan. With a current and valid plan in place, if a major hurricane or flood damages municipal facilities, the town becomes eligible for reimbursement of costs to fix—or if needed, upgrade to modern standards—that facility. However, if the town’s hazard mitigation plan is not up to date, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will only reimburse the town for the costs to return the facility to exactly as it was when the storm or flood hit.
“Ideally, we want someone who is on staff. At $50 per hour, we will attract a different pool [of candidates] than before for 24 hours a week,” resident Jim Crawford commented from the audience.
The discussion ended with a summary and motion by Selectman John Hall.
“I would like to see a part-time town engineer and a part-time planner at 24 hours a week. I agree with Jim. I favor re-advertising at 24 hours per week at a price of $45 to $50 an hour. Does the town have to re-interview and re-post?” said Hall.
Hall asked the question because the announcement of the town planner opening did not include the pay that would be associated with the position.
Hall then modified his motion to check with the town’s labor lawyer, Gabe Jiran, before posting the position again. Hall said if Jiran agrees, it may be possible to just re-interview the three candidates without a new posting.
Hall’s motion was approved unanimously. Ozols confirmed she found the approach—interim planning help from ZEO Eric Knapp and a part-time planner to be hired soon—acceptable, though she has said she would still prefer that the town hire a full-time town planner.