Personnel Board approves three town hires but split on fire department funding
WAYLAND -- August 1, 2023, Wayland Personnel Board approves three salaries but splits over fire department funding transparency. The board on Tuesday unanimously set the incoming library director at Grade N11, step 7 ($115,876) and the new town engineer at Grade N9, step 10 ($113,905), with HR Director Kate Ryan noting the engineer position has been vacant for months because private-sector pay runs $150,000 to $200,000. A fire department administrative assistant was approved 3-0 at Grade N4, step 9 ($65,809), with member Mary Ellen Castagno abstaining after objecting that the town's full-time equivalent chart still shows the role at 0.54 FTE with no benefits. "I'm not comfortable taking from Peter to pay Paul," Castagno said. Fire Chief McPherson joined by invitation to confirm the department's salary line already carried funding for two part-time positions being combined into one. The board also approved a revised HR assistant job description 3-1.
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WAYLAND -- The Personnel Board on Tuesday approved starting salaries for three new town employees, a library director, a town engineer and a fire department administrative assistant, but the fire department vote splintered after members questioned whether the full-time position was properly funded in the budget approved at May's Town Meeting.
Chair Maryanne Peabody led the meeting, joined by members Paul Morenberg, Mary Ellen Castagno (who arrived late) and a member identified in roll calls as Deb. Member Jill Zukerman was absent. Select Board liaison Carol Martin and Human Resources Director Kate Ryan also participated.
The board unanimously set the new library director's starting salary at Grade N11, step 7, $115,876, following a national recruitment led by an outside consultant. Ryan said the selected candidate has more than 20 years of library experience in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The position is expected to be filled in early September.
Members then voted 4-0 to start the new town engineer at Grade N9, step 10, $113,905, the top of the range. Ryan said the role has been vacant for months and has been difficult to fill because private-sector engineers in similar work earn $150,000 to $200,000. The selected candidate spent roughly 11 years as a practicing engineer before moving into academia and now wants to return to municipal work.
The longest debate concerned a full-time administrative assistant for the fire department, recommended at Grade N4, step 9, $65,809. Castagno objected that the town's published full-time equivalent chart still lists the fire department secretary position at 0.54 FTE, with no benefits, and said residents who voted the budget at the May 1 Town Meeting had no way to see that a full-time position was contemplated.
"I'm not comfortable taking from Peter to pay Paul," Castagno said, adding that she had received unsolicited calls from residents asking where the money was coming from.
Ryan said the funding is in fact in the fire department's salary line, the department had been carrying two part-time positions, a 0.5 secretary and a roughly 0.54 job-share with the facilities department, both funded for several fiscal years. The FTE chart, she acknowledged, had not been updated. Fire Chief McPherson joined the meeting by invitation to confirm the department had the money to cover one full-time hire by combining the two part-time slots, one of which is being vacated by a retirement.
Morenberg suggested future requests of this kind be accompanied by a written determination from the town manager that funding exists. The board ultimately voted 3-0 to approve the step, with Castagno abstaining, conditioning the motion on confirmation that budget funds are available.
The board also voted 3-1 to approve a revised job description for a human resources assistant, with Castagno opposed. Members declined to assign minute-taking for Personnel Board meetings to the HR assistant, citing prior open-meeting-law complaints when non-members handled minutes. The board held the recreation program assistant job description for further revision, asking Ryan to work with Recreation Director Catherine Brenna on education requirements and language clarifying whether the role is primarily administrative.
The board voted to release, with redactions where applicable, executive session minutes from February 2020 through April 2023, and then entered executive session to review additional minutes from 2021 and 2022. The next meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12.