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Board notes high stormwater outsourcing costs; plans phased hiring to reduce consultant spending
Summary
Board members reviewed stormwater spending that rose when in-house capacity was reduced, and staff proposed hiring to replace outsourced consultant work; members agreed to monitor outsourcing and leave budget levels intact for a rebuilding year.
Town staff told the board that stormwater-management costs were higher this year because the town outsourced much of the work after an internal departure. The transcript showed the stormwater line was overspent for the current year (figures discussed in meeting), and staff said they planned to hire internally to take over some tasks in the coming year and thereby reduce future outsourcing.
Engineering staff described about $146,000 spent on outsourced stormwater work this year and proposed budgeting roughly $55,000 for consulting next year while bringing more work in-house as staff are hired. Board members pressed for caution: several said they did not want to cut the stormwater line now because the department is in a transition and still rebuilding capacity; they preferred to let the department stabilize, then reassess next year if projected outsourcing remained high.
The board discussed the tradeoff: higher short-term outsourcing costs versus longer-term payroll increases if new hires are added. Several members advocated retaining a larger consulting line for one more year so the newly hired or returning staff could be onboarded without service interruptions.
Ending: Board agreed to leave the stormwater outsourcing budget near current proposed levels for the coming year as the department rebuilds capacity, and to reassess outsourcing needs at year-end when hiring and workloads are clearer.
