Public works director wants to add water supervisor to Belmont town budget

BELMONT — Presenting to the selectboard Oct. 6, during the first of two budget workshops, leaders from public works and the town clerk and tax collector's office stood out for their out-of-the-box staffing ideas and unwavering support for current town employees.

At the workshop, the board also heard from parks & rec.

Public works — including budgets for buildings and grounds, highways, water and sewer — commandeered much of the 2.5-hour discussion. Director Brian Jackes came right out of the gate requesting a salary for a water supervisor.

Currently, Jackes serves a dual role as department head and water department manager. That’s proven problematic given the number of emergent situations in town — three water main breaks alone this year — and the fact Jackes can only be in one place at a time.

“I’ll start this out by identifying the biggest part of this. I’m proposing to try to bring back, or try to bring in, a supervisor on the water/sewer side, to help with the administrative side of things, to help keep things moving, to help progress the system,” Jackes said, explaining how he formulated the salary.

Jackes’ salary is currently funded through a percentage breakdown from various budgets: 50% from the highway budget, 25% from the water department budget, and 25% from the sewer department budget.

He’s proposing a change.

“I moved salaries around. I can safely say that I probably spent 90% of my time on water and sewer, and this year, water has been the loudest. I don’t think that’s fair for the system users ... for the taxpayers to not get the full 50% for the highway side of things,” Jackes said. “I’m proposing to reduce my salary to 10% for water, 10% sewer, and be funded 80% out of the highway” budget.

Recreating the position of a water supervisor would mean fewer services need to be contracted with Pennichuck, a company used for collection, storage, treatment, distribution, and sale of potable water in southern and central New Hampshire. Instead, the supervisor would be able to have a better handle on costs, and more of the repairs and maintenance can be completed in-house. The town’s contract with Pennichuck ends in 2027.

“If we’re staffed correctly, it would be better for the town. We’d have more control,” Jackes said. “Alicia [Jipson] could use a little help, with people taking some of the burden off of her,” he said, referring to the town administrator.

Travis O’Hara summed up the pitch well: “Those numbers look scary.”

Jackes agreed, sharing how long he hemmed and hawed on finalizing his preliminary budget. He decided to just go for it.

“I was the first one to have this done, and the last one to get it in,” he said. “This budget, I don’t have a chip on my shoulders. If you guys want me to take something out, I’m OK with that. I’m not insulted ... but I kept every line item.”

The town clerk's budget was also of particular note. Clerk Jennifer Cashman, while presenting the preliminary budget, advocated for staff raises higher than the 4% generally given across the board. Cashman has been at the helm for three years, running a “lean,” efficient operation.

“This is a unique position, actually two positions. I am the town clerk and tax collector. You have to live in town to have this position. So, that makes your pool very, very small. In the almost three years I’ve been here ... I’ve worked to fulfill the requirements of my position, but also improve the effectiveness of my office,” Cashman said. “I built my staff from the ground up. They’re doing a phenomenal job, I’m very proud of them. This is a very difficult position, we’re a great team.”

She gave an overview of the thousands of dollars in revenue she’s collected for the town in overdue water and sewer bills, as well as back taxes.

Despite the clear improvements to the department, the proposed pay increases were tough for the board to stomach.

“I’d personally like to stay with 4% across the board. Not that I don’t feel that everybody deserves much more, but unfortunately, I want the budget to pass,” board chair Ruth Mooney said. “I’m going to stay with 4%.”

The salary request was tabled until the full selectboard could be present. Board members Jon Pike and Mark Lewandoski were absent from the meeting.

Reductions to the town clerk’s budget largely came in advertising and maintenance, while increases show an increase in the cost of postage and employee overtime.

“There’s just not a lot of [equipment] maintenance in clerkin’,” Cashman said.

The elections budget comes under the town clerk.

“All the overtime in my office comes from elections,” she said. “It’s elections that kill” the budget.

Danielle Cook of parks & rec presented a budget lower than the prior year.

“My budget, we’re all decreased,” Cook said, explaining how she worked the staffing formula to decrease costs. “I would love it if staff came every day, but the realistic part is they're not going to come. So, I've been able to draw those numbers back.”

Raises of 4% were applied to camp counselors, and the camp director was allotted a $0.50 raise, roughly 2%, which they were “more than happy about.”

The 2027 summer camp schedule is still unknown, due to the lack of a finalized 2027-28 school year calendar. This could alter the final budget for parks & rec if there’s an extra week to accommodate. Cook’s budget currently allocates staffing for eight weeks of camp.

The bathrooms at Leslie Beach were also discussed, and Cook told the board the summer season was largely incident-free. The bathrooms may be here to stay, and the idea of a portable toilet off the table.

“They've done really good this year. I think we've had one big clogged toilet. It's been pretty good for the bathrooms this year,” she said. “Everybody that's been coming in and using it has been pretty respectful.”

The board approved all preliminary budgets presented Oct. 6, with the understanding numbers would fluctuate. Special items, like the town clerk’s salary lines, will be reviewed again before a full board.

The purpose of the budget workshops is for the selectboard to hear preliminary budget requests from each department, and loosely consider the idea. From here, numbers will evolve as vendor estimates are returned for line-item considerations.

Department heads were scheduled to continue presenting their preliminary budgets to the selectboard Tuesday. On the schedule were budgets related to health agencies, the cemetery and library trustees, general assistance, the Heritage Commission, solid waste, legal, insurance not allocated and debt, principal and interest.

Eventually, these nearly-formed budget proposals will head to the budget committee for a line-by-line review, ahead of Town Meeting 2027.

For more information, visit belmontnh.gov.

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Katlyn Proctor can be reached at katlyn@laconiadailysun.com or by calling 603-524-0150.