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Public works director outlines multi‑year staffing plan and job‑description changes
Summary
Public Works Director Michael Neto presented revised job descriptions and an organizational chart proposing a working-foreman role and phased staffing changes over roughly three years; the board asked staff to return in August with implementation details and clearer budget documents for a Clean Diesel grant.
Public Works Director Michael Neto presented a proposal to reorganize parts of the public-works division and update several job descriptions at the July 13 Select Board meeting.
Neto said he and staff rewrote and clarified job descriptions for a working foreman (highway), a working foreman for the transfer station, and a retooled public-works-administrator position, accompanied by an updated organizational chart. He described the materials as goal posts rather than an immediate full implementation and proposed incremental, phased changes that could be achieved within three years if the board supports the plan.
Board members asked for clarity about duties, continuity between similar job titles across divisions, and assurances that supervisory roles would still include emergency operational duties (for example, plowing when staff shortfalls require it). Neto said he added language that the working foreman would coordinate snow- and ice-control operations and would assist with route management and emergency scheduling when necessary.
Neto also said limited funds remain in seasonal part‑time budgets and that the town could likely fund one, possibly two, positions in the short term to pilot changes; he said a fuller package and phasing plan would be presented in August. Board members asked staff to identify what could be fit into the current fiscal year without substantial budget increases.
The board asked for better packet documents on capital and grant-funded purchases after a conversation about a New Hampshire Clean Diesel grant and an associated loader purchase generated confusion when participants tried to reconcile the oral math. Staff said the grant is structured as a 75% award with a 25% local match and agreed to provide clearer documentation of total project cost and match amounts in future materials.
The Select Board expressed strategic support for Neto to return with a detailed, phased implementation plan and initial budget impacts in August.
