Grand Island board debates interim accounting and HR staffing options, plans auditor scheduling and executive session

Grand Island Town Board members spent the bulk of a workshop discussing interim accounting and human-resources staffing, including whether to hire a contracted HR/payroll consultant through a vendor or bring on temporary staff, and asked staff to circulate dates for auditors to visit.

A council member opened the discussion by identifying accounting and staffing as the “starting conversation” for the meeting and said a short-term fix would be to hire a temporary/contracted provider immediately to catch up quarterly reports and payroll. “I think the short term fix is we do this option 3, which is we hire that temp agency. They start Monday. We'll get them trained in to do quarterly reports,” the council member said.

Why it matters: board members said the town is behind on payroll and reporting and needs both an immediate stopgap and a plan to hire a long-term payroll/HR employee. The board discussed two vendor options described in the workshop materials (referred to as option 3 and option 4), the costs and limits of each, and whether the vendor maintains backup staff if a contracted individual becomes unavailable.

Most of the discussion focused on vendor availability, hours, and cost. The board cited a vendor rate of about $71.25 per hour in the materials presented and said one vendor would provide 10 hours a week of support under a short-term arrangement with a 30-day termination clause. Board members noted payroll processing alone was estimated to take roughly 24 hours per pay period under current conditions, which would exceed the 10 hours/week allotment and trigger additional hourly charges under the vendor proposal. One member summarized those terms: “We have a 30 day out clause. Correct?” and staff confirmed that was in the proposal.

Board members also pressed on whether the vendor would have backup staff available if the assigned contractor left or was unavailable. A staff member responded that the vendor contracts out multiple employees and “they have a bench,” meaning the company could supply a replacement.

Several members said the contracted consultant should do more than replicate existing work practices. One member warned against simply continuing current practices without improvement, saying they did not want “this person to come in and just keep doing what we've been doing,” and emphasized the town needs someone who can identify and correct HR and payroll deficiencies and help train a future, permanent hire.

Town attorney Peter Godfrey joined the meeting for legal questions. Asked about timing for auditors, Godfrey said the work should happen “as soon as possible. Like, maybe July the latest.” Board members asked staff to circulate multiple dates (the week of July 7 and the week of July 14 were suggested) and to send those dates to the board so auditors and the board can agree on a schedule.

Board members also discussed the prospect of moving some salary and sensitive staffing questions into executive session. One member asked whether salary and related items required executive session; staff said those topics would be handled in executive session, and the board agreed to consult with the town attorney in an executive session following the workshop.

No formal motion was recorded or voted on during the workshop. Instead, the board directed staff to circulate auditor dates, provide the vendor paperwork for review, and consult with the town attorney in executive session before making a final staffing decision.

The board indicated next steps would be: staff will circulate several proposed auditor dates to the board, staff will leave the vendor paperwork with board members for review, the town attorney will be consulted in executive session on salary/legal questions, and the board will reconvene to take any formal action after those items are addressed.