Public Works staff sees cuts

Four seasonal employees won’t be returning to the Public Works department this year as the town trimmed $47,000 off its operating budget.
Those employees worked on sidewalk construction, line painting, and relieving those people taking vacation, Operations and Facilities manager Jerry Tetu noted Monday.
“It’s going to have to be people who are working here [who do that work],” he said.
While the town didn’t budget the $47,000 in savings, CAO Bill Naturkach said that amount would go towards the $400,000 operating efficiencies to be achieved in the ’98 budget.
“[And] we are going to be pursuing volunteer exits,“ Naturkach added, noting five town employees within 10 years of retirement have expressed interest in taking a golden handshake.
He said it was only being offered to those positions which would not be replaced.
“That’s a condition of the package,” Naturkach noted. “What we have to do now is negotiate the exact details of that package.”
In related news, town employees will not be forced to take days off without pay this year (they had been asked to take off July 2-3 and the period between Christmas and New Year’s).
But employees can voluntarily take days off, which Naturkach said already was an option.
“But it has not been promoted that way,” he added, noting signs would be posted on bulletin boards to promote such time off.
He also said no pink slips were being issued at this time.