Select Board approves clinic hire, animal-control appointment and employer coverage for state Paid Family & Medical Leave

At its Jan. 8 meeting the North Haven Select Board completed multiple personnel actions and set payroll policy guidance for 2025.

The board approved the hiring committee's recommendation to hire Dave Macy as the town clinic assistant; the chair or personnel designee will contact him to finalize the appointment.

On animal control, the board accepted Deputy Frank Jennings to serve as the town's Animal Control Officer. Rebecca reported the Sheriff's Department had no objection because the appointment is a town stipend role separate from the department contract; the board agreed to pro-rate compensation until the town meeting and to draft an ordinance for the position where none currently exists.

Rebecca briefed the board on the state Paid Family & Medical Leave program and the immediate need to begin payroll deductions. After discussion about employer cost and employee impact, the board voted that the town will cover the full 1% employer contribution rather than split the cost with employees.

The board also debated how to set employee increases in future years and voted to adopt a 3.2% overall pay increase for 2025, while asking staff and board members to develop a written policy to guide merit versus COLA decisions going forward.

Why it matters: These actions affect town payroll costs and staff retention. The town's decision to cover the employer share of the state program sets an immediate employer expense and the 3.2% increase adds to the 2025 personnel budget; the board asked staff to present a policy proposal before future increases are set.

Next steps: staff will notify hires and the ACO appointee, implement payroll deductions to reflect the town's employer contribution, and work with the board to draft a formal compensation policy for future consideration.