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Date: 2/7/2023
SHUTESBURY – The conservation commissions of Wendell, Leverett and Shutesbury are all in the same difficult position, trying to find a conservation agent. Last week, on Jan. 30, the group met to see if finding one agent for all three towns would be easier.
“If it was a more full job, encompassing all three towns, we should be able to attract more talent,” said Joan Deely, vice chair of the Leverett Conservation Commission . “We’re all kind of struggling to find a conservation agent.”
The problem facing the three conservation commissions is that each town doesn’t need a full-time conservation agent and doesn’t have the workload to justify a position for 40 hours a week. Salaries for full and part-time agents are also increasing. The positional costs are given a further substantial bump if employee benefits are figured in, which would be a new expense with a shared agent.
“It is not an administrative job. It requires technical experience,” said Gail Berrigan, a Leverett ConCom member. “There is some flexibility there — but the salary without any benefits, it’s not a great job. Once you get someone in there, with qualifications, it’s not a long-term position.”
Shutesbury officials convened the meeting, the second attempt to share an agent. In fall 2021 Shutesbury was approached by Leverett and Pelham about creating a more attractive position. Nothing materialized.
“The biggest lift for us will be that we’re creating a new position,” DeFant said. “Doing that would not be that much more costly for a town.”
The impending departure of Adam Kohl, the agent currently employed part-time in Wendell and Leverett, adds pressure to the search for a new person. Kohl was hired in Leverett last March, for 10 hours a week, at $23 per hour. He works several part-time positions and also freelances.
“That’s a good place to start, collaboratively trying to hire someone,” Kohl said, “with the idea that the position can be refined, over time.”
Seth Heminway, Leverett commission member, didn’t feel comfortable suggesting candidates be hired with the idea that hours among the towns be decided in the future. Ward Smith, chair of the ConCom in Wendell, agreed saying, “We can’t promise things.” Ward approved of hiring an agent at 10 hours per town, 30 hours a week, as a possible solution.
Kohl also commented that a shared position, served by one agent, would diversify the service hours in all the towns.
“You would have more flexibility,” Kohl said. “You would have a wider swathe of time where someone can call you. You have more flexibility in your time to book site visits.” Kohl agreed the job would draw more candidates if the position is full-time and offers benefits.
Miriam DeFant, chair of the Shutesbury Conservation Commission, commented there are several ways to hire an agent. One town could hire the agent and the other towns could pay part of the salary, depending on the hours spent in that town. An agent could also be hired by a third party, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) being one possibility. DeFant also said that in the Berkshires the county, in the past, hired conservation agents and towns paid the county an hourly rate.
Those options are longer term possibilities. A Town Meeting vote is necessary to create a new paid position in town government. That would involve writing a job description and other administrative tasks.
April Stein, a member of Shutesbury’s Personnel Board, confirmed that a full-time position, with benefits, would be a more expensive path. One town would assume complete responsibility for the cost of benefits, which are significant, adding to the complexity of sharing those overall charges.
“How do you take three towns and figure out who’s going to pay what, and the benefits, that make it fair?” Stein said. She figured a salary of $25 per hour, for 30 hours per week, would be $38,000 yearly. “With benefits, it would be almost $50,000 a year. I’m not sure how we would do it.”
The group also noted that a big increase in the cost of the conservation agent would be a challenge to approach with to town officials and to voters at Town Meeting. One way to reduce the increase in Shutesbury, DeFant said, was to move some of the hours of the land use clerk and devote them to the conservation agent.
Shutesbury currently employs Carrie Marshall as a clerk for 15 to 19 hours a week. Benefits kick in at 20 hours weekly. Marshall often works more than that, DeFant said, without extra pay.
Juggling hours between positions was one of two ideas for reducing the bump in the cost of the agent.
Another was to pay some of the salary out of fees charged for the various services a conservation agent performs. Janice Stone, previously employed as an agent in Granby and other towns, volunteered that she was paid out of fees collected by the department.
“They charged $75 a site visit, $50 for an RDA,” a request for determination of the applicability of conservation bylaws, Stone said. “It’s a little funky there, but that’s what they do.”
DeFant acknowledged her department does not charge for all the services performed. The hours of research required to make decisions is not captured in the fee structure. The situation for the town is further complicated, however, because Marshall, Shutesbury’s land use clerk, has made it known she will be resigning from that position in the near future.
“That’s holding us up, as far as posting for her position,” DeFant said, “but I would like to move along with developing the conservation agent position.”
Shutesbury commission members voted 5-0 in favor of further developing a shared agent position. The other towns, also under duress, are moving ahead to find an agent. Kohl said an applicant for his position would appear at the commission meeting in Leverett scheduled for Feb. 6. Berrigan, from Leverett’s commission, also suggested immediate action was necessary to prevent a lapse in services.
“We’ll have a conversation,” Berrigan said. “We need to post something ASAP.”