FARMINGTON – In an effort to retain two part-time seasonal employees, selectmen voted Tuesday to provide limited benefits and raise their hourly rate, Town Manager Richard Davis said Wednesday.
Davis expects the change to cost about $1,600 annually for the two public works employees. However, town officials chose to hire the two part-time employees last year to replace two full-time workers who were retiring, at a savings of about $81,000.
The employees work during the winter clearing snow from roads. They’ll receive a 59-cent increase to $12.46 hourly, three paid holidays and a one week vacation, prorated based on hours worked, Davis said. They will each also benefit from a $200 clothing allowance, the same as other half-year employees. Vacation days will need to be taken “when it doesn’t hinder snow-removal operations,” Davis added.
Selectmen voted to approve the third-quarter sewer commitment, which did not change; Farmington’s $42,425 share of Mt. Blue TV’s annual budget; and a $2,500 equipment fee.
The local access television station’s $58,000 total budget for 2006 will be paid through a franchise fee charged to all cable subscribers in Farmington and Wilton; Farmington subscribers pay 67 percent and Wilton viewers 33 percent. Percentages are based on subscriber numbers from each town. The equipment fund comes from each town’s budget, which was $2,000 for Farmington in 2005.
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