By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – A move to increase the Conservation Department’s budget by $25,000 to bring the Conservation Agent position to full-time status failed at last night’s Town Council meeting. The vote was 4-3 against the extra budget boost.
Town Accountant Kevin Gill was at the meeting to present the next round of departmental budgets for FY 2025, which begins July 1, 2024.
Of the 10 budgets presented last night, all were approved as recommended by Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio. Most included modest increases and passed with little discussion from the board, with the exception of the Conservation Commission budget.
Maio’s recommended Conservation Commission budget, which totaled $61,078, included an increase of $1,532, mainly for contractual salary increases for the two employees who share conservation agent duties. Gill pointed out that the total hours for those positions were increased last year. Previously, each agent worked 10 hours per week. Currently one agent works 19 hours per week and the other works five hours per week.
After Gill presented the ConCom budget, Conservation Commissioner Peter Miller stepped up to argue in favor of increasing the budget by $25,000 in order to increase the hours of the conservation agent currently working 19 hours a week to 30 hours. The other agent would remain at five hours per week.
Miller noted that combined, the hours would equal a full-time conservation agent, which he said was the norm in most Massachusetts communities. He argued that the specialized professional knowledge that conservation agents possess is “vital” to the Conservation Commission’s work.
He said that a full-time agent would better enable the Commission to ensure that development is done in an environmentally responsible manner.
Commissioner Jim Luciani also talked about the duties of the conservation agent in arguing for the added hours and the funding to pay for them.
Maio told the Town Council that his team looks carefully at every departmental budget request and noted that the conservation agent hours were increased last year. He added that if special projects come up, it’s always been possible to handle any temporary additional hours needed via other funding sources.
Maio cautioned that moving from a part time position to a full-time schedule means that benefits also kick in, which is an additional dollar amount.
Councilor Robert Vincent noted it was important for Wakefield to retain good conservation agents given the demand for such services.
Town Councilor Michael McLane said that he had not heard any reports that work wasn’t getting done due to a shortage of hours. But Luciani argued that even more could be accomplished for the town with a full-time conservation agent.
Town Councilor Julie Smith Galvin agreed but suggested that the town should put more resources toward environmental sustainability in general, not necessarily just the Conservation Commission.
Another member of the Conservation Commission, Haley McHatton Ballou, claimed that the town was losing grant opportunities due to the limited conservation agent hours.
“We are in the midst of a climate crisis right now,” she insisted. “We need to do everything we can right now to be pro-active.”
Town Council chairman Jonathan Chines said that he felt the need to see the work quantified by task to demonstrate the need for additional hours.
Councilor Edward Dombroski noted that many town departments would probably like to increase their staffing and budgets in a similar manner, adding that the Conservation Department thus far has been able to function with its current level of resources.
He added that it was important to separate “want” from “need” and separate the personality from the position. He suggested that resources may be available in other areas of town government that could be drawn upon to achieve the objectives of the Conservation Department.
Councilor Mehreen Butt agreed that breaking down “silos” that separate town departments could help share the load through collaboration.
After hearing the arguments of Conservation Commission members, McLane said that he had been convinced that the additional hours and the budget increase were warranted.
Still, in the end the board voted 4-3 to support Maio’s original recommended Conservation budget, without the added hours. Voting in favor of Maio’s recommended budget were Dombroski, Smith-Galvin, Butt and Chines.
The other FY 2025 budgets approved last night with modest increases included the Town Treasurer’s budget at $237,756, the Fire Alarm and Traffic Signal budget ($72,511), Emergency Management ($92,253), Inspectional Services ($482,638), Street Lights ($188,131) and the Professional Medical budget ($15,300).
The Historical Commission ($2,000), Unemployment ($75,000) and Reserve Fund ($400,000) budgets were level funded.