By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Town Council approved three more FY 2024 departmental budgets this week but held off on approving its own Town Council budget after questions arose over the need for Town Hall “greeters.”
The greeters are a vestige of the COVID-19 pandemic when they were instituted as a means of “contact tracing” when the Town Hall re-opened following the pandemic. The two part-time positions were initially funded through ARPA monies, but have since been weaned off ARPA and are now a part of the regular Town Council budget.
The total amount requested in the Town Council budget was $626,161, which includes an increase of $29,464 over the current fiscal year. The cost of the greeters is about $43,000 a year.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski acknowledged that the greeters were “nice to have” when the town had the additional money to fund them, but he wondered if they were really necessary now that they are part of the town budget. He suggested that some other means of directing people, such as improved signage or some type of automated system could be used instead. He also asked if clerical personnel at Town Hall could cover the greeter’s station on a rotating basis.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said that it would be difficult for clerical personnel to also act as greeters because they have other duties that require them to be at their own work stations. He defended keeping the greeter positions.
“It does help people find their way around,” he said.
But as Town Councilor Michael Mclane noted, “There were a lot of pre-COVID years when there were no greeters and we managed to get by.”
Dombroski added that there are not so many places to go on the first floor of Town Hall that require directions.
Councilor Anne Danehy agreed with Dombroski.
“Town Hall is not that big,” she observed, adding that improved signage would help. She questioned why the greeters are needed now when they weren’t needed before COVID.
Dombroski also floated the idea of using senior citizens as greeters as part of the senior work-off program whereby senior citizens can get a reduction in property taxes in exchange for service to the town.
Ultimately, the Town Council decided to punt on voting the Town Council budget until their next meeting on Feb. 27.
The other three budgets before the Council this week were somewhat less contentious.
The Police Department budget was approved at $6,882,105, including an increase of $158,647. It was noted that the police union contract is currently being negotiated, so any costs related to that were not part of the budget presented.
Councilor Edward Dombroski noted that the town’s population has risen by about 2,000 residents since 2010. He wondered about police staffing levels as the town’s population continues to grow.
Police Chief Steven Skory said that the department is budgeted for 47 officers, but has been getting by with about 44 due to extended absences due to illness or injury. He said that the department is managing with current staffing levels but at some point will need more officers.
He observed that new officer recruitment is a challenge as fewer people want to go into policing these days.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the FY 2024 Police budget.
The library budget was approved at $1,929,408, including an increase of $52,311 over the current year’s budget. Library Director Catherine McDonald was present at the meeting to discuss the budget.
The $479,155 Information Technology budget was approved by the Town Council, including an increase of $97,449. Town Accountant Kevin Gill said that the bulk of the increase, $69,460, was related to moving some of the Town’s IT services to the Cloud.
All departmental budgets are also reviewed by the Finance Committee before going to Annual Town Meeting in the spring for final approval.
