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Easton finance panel weighs Park & Rec overtime and secretarial vacancy as staff fill snow-plowing duties
Summary
The Board of Finance heard Park & Recreation leaders on Feb. 3 about using P&R staff to supplement DPW snow removal, new overtime costs ordered by the First Selectman, and a high-turnover secretarial post paid $18/hour that the board agreed should be posted externally.
The Town of Easton Board of Finance on Feb. 3 pressed Park & Recreation leaders to clarify who pays for snow-plowing overtime and urged steps to reduce reliance on outside contractors.
At the meeting Chair Art Laske asked Park & Recreation Director Lisa Farasciano and Finance Director/Treasurer Danielle Alves to outline staffing and outsourced services. Danielle and Farasciano said P&R uses seasonal employees whose high turnover and cross-department demands leave gaps in winter, which led to a practice since about 2018 of having P&R supplement the Department of Public Works for snow removal. Colin Cote told the board that night- and weekend-overtime for P&R began this winter following direction from First Selectman Dan Lent and that the overtime costs are currently charged to the DPW budget.
Why it matters: charging P&R overtime to DPW can obscure true department costs and complicate year-end accounting. The board asked for a written policy to clarify assignments and funding. Danielle Alves said she plans to create a written policy delineating responsibilities and recommended increasing the P&R overtime budget to reflect the new practice. Art Laske encouraged performing more lawn and landscaping work in-house to reduce outsourcing costs.
The board also discussed a vacant P&R secretarial position that Danielle said has been open for about six weeks. She said the job is currently budgeted at $18 per hour for 20 hours per week and has experienced high turnover. Chris Calvert suggested raising the pay; Ira Kaplan recommended posting the vacancy externally (the role had been posted only internally after a prior warning that the position might be reduced). The board signaled support for an external posting; no formal board vote was recorded.
Next steps: the Finance Director will draft a written policy to spell out snow-removal assignments and funding, the P&R overtime line will be reviewed for an increase, and the secretarial vacancy will be posted externally.
