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Date: 3/23/2022
HAMPDEN – The Hampden Board of Selectmen approved a compensation rate for the position records access officer at its March 21 meeting. This step was needed before Town Clerk Eva Wiseman could hire someone for the role.
Wiseman explained that she “was remiss” in not including the position in the list of town employees while a compensation study was underway in early 2021. The position, approved at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting, had been unfilled for some time when the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston was developing the pay structure for municipal employees.
Wiseman discussed her view of the position. “I don’t want somebody who can just find records. I want someone who can build it into the system,” and make a “central repository” for records. Board of Selectmen Chair Donald Davenport suggested the creation of a searchable database accessible to residents, but Wiseman was focused on organizing records for easy municipal retrieval first.
Wiseman explained that the role had been a grade seven before the restructuring and most employees who had been a grade seven had been recategorized as a grade four. As the person would be new to the town, they would come in as a step one. The 10 hour-per-week job would therefore be compensated as a grade four, step one at $22.38 per hour.
Board of Selectmen member John Flynn said Wiseman made “a compelling case.” The board approved the pay scale assignment unanimously.
HCRRB Recovery
Davenport said he is interested in joining with other towns in the area to try to recoup some of the money that was found to be mishandled by the Hampden County Regional Retirement Board (HCRRB).
He summarized the controversy that has centered on the HCRRB over the past year. The oversight body for municipal and regional retirement entities, the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC), conducted an audit of the HCRRB’s operations from 2017 to 2019. It found that in those three years, the organization had spent $235,000 for services it never received; $87,229 in irregular bank service charges; violation of M.G.L. c. 32, §20(3)(e), which regulates public entity attorney benefits; conflicts of interest in violation of M.G.L. c. 268A and “questionable expenses.” All the while, the towns and school districts that utilize the retirement fund have been paying sharp annual increases to bring the fund to solvency by 2036.
An audit of the organization’s dealings from 2020 and 2021 is ongoing.
Davenport explained that Hampden and several other member towns had been applying a pressure campaign to change the HCRRB. So far, there have been several policies implemented in the organization to address the issues highlighted by PERAC.
The next step, the chair said, is to sue the HCRRB to recoup some of the nearly $800,000 total that Davenport said the fund mishandled. He estimated the legal costs of this venture to be about $2,000 per town.
The board approved the attempt to litigate the issue.
Posting Meetings
The town’s website, https://www.hampdenma.gov, is not the official location for posting municipal meetings. The Board of Selectmen approved the change from the bulletin board behind Town Hall to the website.
Flynn expressed concern because not all residents are computer savvy or have access to the internet. Town Administrator Bob Markel said the boards and committees would continue to use the physical board as an unofficial posting location and most residents would not notice a change.
Markel is also encouraging boards and committees to host their meetings with a Zoom component, as well as review and post their minutes on the website.
ARPA Updates
When reviewing the projects for which funding by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will be sought, the board discussed sidewalks. Flynn said the idea of a sidewalk on Main Street near the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post was more interesting to people in town than the one proposed for Allen Street and Somers Road, from Centennial Commons to the Senior Center.
Davenport said sidewalks should not be a priority for the ARPA funds. “I hear people say they want sidewalks, but when you tear up their lawns...,” he said.
Markel said the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which offers grants for municipalities affected by the MGM Casino in Springfield, will only cover sidewalks in the Allen Street-Somers Road corridor, but Flynn pushed back on that, saying the commission identified Glendale Road and Main Street, as well.
Markel said he would send out a request for proposals for the design of sidewalks in both locations.
Miscellaneous
In other topics, Hampden will be receiving its first payment for the lease by Ameresco of the land at the Transfer Station for a solar field, despite the project not yet being built.
Markel said state Sen. Eric Lesser is seeking requests for earmarks for the FY23 budget. Markel will make a request to replace the Town Hall’s windows, which are antique and expensive to replace.