On Tuesday, April 12, when voters gather for Tisbury’s annual town meeting at the Tisbury School at 7 pm, they will be asked if they’ll approve a fiscal ’23 $34.4 million operating budget, whether or not to swap a piece of town-owned land for a piece of private land, whether to support the establishment of a housing bank, and whether to authorize a $750,000 Proposition 2½ override.
In a special town meeting that will be held concurrently with the annual town meeting, voters will be asked if they’ll support an initial overhaul to the town’s human resources system. The overhaul is encompassed in three articles, one of which is simply a ”language clarification” to the personnel bylaw, according to Tisbury personnel board chair John Schilling. Schilling said the current language directs the powers and responsibilities of the personnel director to the “executive secretary.” However, Schilling said, Tisbury hasn’t had anyone with that title in a long time, and the personnel board deemed it prudent to correct that language so there are no potential legal issues.
Schilling said the other two articles, one which establishes a human resources department and one which establishes a standalone director of human resources, constitute changes the personnel board is looking for voter approval on in order to move forward with an overall revamp of human resources in the town.
The two articles stem from a “comprehensive review” of the town’s personnel bylaw and personnel policies, Schilling said.
“We’ve gone out and contracted with an independent third party who specializes in municipal HR — and is actually recommended by MMA [Massachusetts Municipal Association] — to review our bylaw in total and make recommendations back to us,” Schilling said. He described it as “a process that will take time.”
By the 2023 annual town meeting, Schilling said, the board hopes to have a new personnel bylaw to present to voters. The director of human resources position and the human resources department wouldn’t necessarily be activated before the next town meeting, Schilling noted, but the personnel board would be able to continue putting things together with the knowledge the voters backed the idea.
A key problem in town right now, Schilling said, is there is no standalone position to manage the town’s personnel affairs; instead all those responsibilities of personnel have fallen on the town administrator. “Which, when you think about it, is insane,” Schilling said.
Given all the responsibilities of the town administrator position, human resource duties added to the job “exceed the capacity of one person to deal with,” Schilling said.
“We have, given fluctuations, close to 100 full-time employees, without counting the school system, and seasonally can have close to 200 at any point in time. And there’s nobody that has any full-time responsibilities to address these employees on personnel matters. And I think the town’s history kind of speaks for itself in that we have not been extremely successful in addressing all of our personnel needs. So we want to get the support of the town for us to move forward.”
Schilling said in the coming fiscal year, the consultant will provide recommendations on “the actual structure and a financial foundation” of a personnel department, personnel bylaws, and the director position.
“And the other part of this is besides dealing with, of course, the just day-to-day personnel things like making sure our policies are up to date, and our compensation programs and such, we also don’t have at this point in time any meaningful training programs for our managers, and obviously that has a huge impact on how employees are handled from a discipline standpoint, from an evaluation standpoint,” Schilling said.
He added this includes training to properly address complaints about sexual harassment. “We haven’t given our managers any tools in which to be able to deal with this,” he said. “And so we’re looking not only to bring the town into compliance with these areas, but also to strengthen the foundation and empower our managers with the tools they need to effectively manage their people.”
Among the ballot questions voters will be presented with are the establishment of a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank and a $750,00 Proposition 2½ override to increase the town’s levy limit. As The Times previously reported, Tisbury finance director Jonathan Snyder estimated the tax impact from the override on the median home price of $744,300 would be about $178 per year.
Two articles on the annual warrant apparently seek a land swap between the town and a private landowner. The town will ask voters to support acquiring roughly an acre off Mud Puddle Lane and raise money to do so, and then give the select board custody of the land. No dollar amount is given for this acquisition. In a related article, the town will dispose of acreage “off Short Hill Road,” according to the warrant. The parcel number in the warrant reveals the land to be on Sailor’s Burying Ground Road. Tisbury wastewater superintendent Jared Meader told The Times Short Hill Road turns into Sailor’s Burying Ground Road, but of the two, a vehicle can only pass down Short Hill Road.
Meader said the two articles constitute a land-swap arrangement. He said the town wants the Mud Puddle Lane land to create a new effluent field for the mitigation of nitrogen. He said the current effluent field behind the town’s emergency services center wasn’t 100 percent effective, but Mud Puddle Lane would provide an area where an effluent field would be 100 percent effective at mitigating nitrogen. Meader added the Short Hill Road/Sailor’s Burying Ground Road town land is in the town’s watershed area, and therefore not a good area for an effluent field. The Mud Puddle Lane land is outside the watershed area, he said. It was his understanding the town may trade the properties in exchange for one dollar. Tisbury town administrator Jay Grande couldn’t immediately be reached to confirm this.
Other items voters will have a chance to weigh in on include a $39,200 request to develop a walking trail and to enhance public access to Tashmoo Spring Pond, $100,000 for “grading, landscaping, plantings, and play structures” for the Tisbury School grounds, $11,000 “to refurbish the Tashmoo harbor skiff,” and $150,000 to for various improvements to the Tisbury Public Library.
