Council signs off on personnel‑policy updates and several staffing changes after budget debate

Human Resources Director Pam Hogan presented proposed updates to Section 4 of the personnel policy manual, aligning non‑union leave language with recently negotiated union contracts and federal rules (including family/medical leave and protections under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act). Changes would increase starting vacation accrual to three weeks and revise maximum accrual caps to improve recruitment and retention.

Council then considered several budget‑driven staffing motions. After discussion about record‑requests workload, Councilor Carter moved to remove the proposed part‑time police records clerk from the 2026 budget; Police leadership said the department could manage the work this year but recommended the position. The council voted to eliminate the position from the proposed budget, 7–0.

A motion to convert a part‑time reference librarian to full time was defeated 4–3 after some councilors said library staffing is already stretched while others argued the library is a high‑utilization facility that needs the change to maintain services. The council approved a modest increase of 4 hours per week for the town health officer (raising the position to 24 hours/week) by a 7–0 vote, citing restaurant inspection workload and public‑health risk. Finally, the council approved reclassifying an information systems technician to a systems administrator with additional compensation (total annual impact ~$10,765) to recognize expanded responsibilities; the motion passed 7–0.

The leave‑section changes and other policy updates were passed with the personnel motions and will take effect Jan. 1, 2026 where applicable.