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Brookfield staff begin centralizing HR duties, tighten records and email procedures
Summary
At a March 24 staff meeting, Brookfield staff approved a set of administrative next steps to centralize HR functions, establish timesheet and general journal signoffs, formalize Right-to-Know handling, and address email-use protocols and operational maintenance tasks.
BROOKFIELD, N.H. — Brookfield staff on March 24 moved to centralize several administrative functions and set near-term steps to tighten timesheet approvals, records handling and email-use protocols.
Karen, Town Clerk, presented a consolidated set of 19 next steps the group agreed to pursue, including asking the Select Board to add an HR-function discussion to its April 7, 2026 agenda and centralizing student-residency verification for the Governor Wentworth Regional School District (GWRSD) through the Town Clerk's office. The meeting listed responsible staff and short deadlines for follow-up work.
The meeting focused first on payroll and accounting controls. Joanne, staff member, asked that department heads or selectmen sign off on timesheets before submission and that a named approver be assigned for general journal entries to document financial transfers and adjustments. The group agreed this will be added to the next Select Board agenda so policy can be formalized.
Staff also discussed implementing a voluntary emergency-contact procedure for employees and volunteers; Joanne and Karen were asked to review the volunteer sign-up process and create a single annual form for volunteers who will staff Earth/Community Day on April 18, 2026.
On records and public-access matters, Karen said the Town Clerk's office will centralize 91-A (Right-to-Know) requests in a single log and aim to respond in the format records are maintained rather than converting file types. Karen announced a 48-hour turnaround goal for vital-records processing and recommended updating the Town Clerk landing page to note that timeline.
Email use and work-hour expectations drew sustained discussion. Staff raised concerns that using personal email for town business can create Department of Labor compliance problems and confusion about hourly employees' on- and off-duty time. Joanne recommended clear office hours and written guidance for remote-work expectations; Rich, staff member, will consult town counsel about email-account strategy and whether the town should issue dedicated devices (the Select Board has previously used iPads) to keep town business separate from personal accounts.
Facilities and operations items were also addressed. Jan will draft a short handyman/maintenance job description for posting while Austin F., contractor, agreed to fill in for the Code Enforcement Officer for on-site inspections when needed. The group approved increasing janitorial service frequency from every two weeks to once a week and agreed to move election supplies into Virginia's former office to free workspace.
The meeting ended with the group assigning specific action items and owners, including: adding HR to the April 7 Select Board agenda; creating onboarding and offboarding checklists; reviewing volunteer forms; ordering sandwich-board inserts and basic supplies; checking insurance coverage for volunteers with Primex; updating fee schedules (mailing and registered-letter fees); and identifying a handyman and confirming rates (Austin to contact Lenny Fitzgerald by March 31, 2026).
Next procedural step: staff will bring policy recommendations and the drafted job description to the Select Board meeting on April 7, 2026, and Rich will schedule quarterly staff meetings to monitor implementation.
