By Beth David, Editor
The Fairhaven Select Board received updates from several department heads at its 2/12/24 meeting, including Cable Access, Marine Resources, and Human Resources.
Cable Access Director Derek Frates told the board his department recorded 307 meetings in 2023, the third year they have had more than 300. They have also covered 37 events on the government side.
The department has been a community resource and helpful to the various boards and departments, creating videos for a variety of reasons. For example, he said they helped the Health Department with guidelines and updates; helped created Public Service Announcements for the fire and police departments; helped the Animal Control Officer with the Adopt-A-Pet program; and a long list of other events they have helped departments. They have covered parades, events at the senior center, and events sponsored by town committees.
The department also just started a new business spotlight feature focusing on new businesses in town.
On the public access side, the department has run shows for members of the public; covered events such as the Manjiro Festival, Father’s Day Road Race, summer concert series; Halloween party; Benoit Square lighting, Old Time Holiday.
All programs are available at www.fairhaventv.com
Mr. Frates said his department works with department heads to promote whatever they are working on, such as making videos to show at Town Meeting on warrant articles.
He said they will be sponsoring a candidate night again this year.
SB member Bob Espindola said the department had come “lightyears” from when Mr. Frates first started.
Mr. Espindola said he has sent many people to the department over the years.
“It’s a great resource,” he said, adding that the meeting coverage is now almost 100%, after the bylaw was passed.
Mr. Frates said only a handful were missed due to technical reasons, but they try to record the Zoom session when that happens.
SB member Stasia Powers thanked him for being such a great resource for the community, especially new businesses.
Mr. Frates said he had a small staff, but they were hard working and worked great together as a team.
SB member Charlie Murphy, whose public access show “The Magazine” won an award because it was submitted by Mr. Frates, said when they were at the awards ceremony, he noted how respected Mr. Frates was by people all over the U.S.
“You’re known,” said Mr. Murphy. “You put Fairhaven on the map.”
Human Resources Director Cameron Durant told the board that his team of three has been very busy. He said they have been reviewing the health care benefits and are “diligently” working on lowering costs for employees. He said self-funded is still the way to go.
Mr. Durant said they are also working with the police and school departments to change the process and streamline payroll.
They are also making some minor changes to the personnel policy; and they created a new employee handbook.
Mr Durant said one of the “most daunting” tasks he has is to re-organize the personnel file, including individual files and contracts.
Mr. Espindola noted that the town has only had a Human Resources department for a few years. He asked Mr. Durant to explain what that means for risk management.
Mr. Durant said from a labor standpoint, his department needs to make sure the town has the proper documents for compliance in a number of areas including sexual harassment; and making sure everyone is treated with equity in regards to pay, reviews, discipline.
He said his department also handles Workers Compensation claims, and looks into problems areas for safety concerns. His office has also taken over property liability insurances.
Mr. Murphy said HR is the hardest job in any town.
SB member Keith Silvia said some people have questioned why the town needs an HR department. He said Mr. Durant just explained it.
HR helps to avoid potential liability, which results in savings, said Mr. Durant.
SB Chairperson Leon Correy asked what changes they were making to the personnel policy.
Mr. Durant said they did a holistic view and tried to balance the “employee experience.”
He said when it is about employee retention, compensation is a factor but it is not everything. Feeling valued and receiving certain benefits can make up for lower pay.
He said they are trying to honor experience, a work-life balance.
“It’s the small things,” said Mr. Durant, like sprucing up the break room.
It helps build a culture, and now people use that room.
Ms. Ellison noted that Mr. Durant had just received a certification as a Senior Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resource Management.
Harbormaster Timothy Cox also updated the board on his department, noting that they have three major projects going on.
He said there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the dredging on West Island. Back in 2002, the project got stalled because they could not find a suitable place to dump the sand because they could not match the grain size. Now, due to the accelerated erosion across the state, officials have relaxed some of those rules. He said the Seaport Council has funding available for the project.
The issue, however, is still where to put the sand. Renourishing a beach close by would be the best option; dumping it out at sea would be the most expensive; using it on the CAD cells in New Bedford Harbor is the cheapest, but does not help the town with beach erosion. Mr. Cox said they are looking at all options.
The second project is the Union Wharf reconstruction. He said it is moving along very well. Contractors will be working on different parts of the wharf.
The third project is dredging in the harbor. There are about 20 sites on the Fairhaven side. That project should be finished at the end of this year. There are commercial and private sites, he said. They want to dredge at the marinas now, before all the summer boats come in.
Mr. Cox told the board that the new motors on his boat are in and his department is getting ready for boating season to begin. The mild winter, though, has meant that some people have been quahogging all winter long. He said he had about 10 people digging on a recent warm day.
Mr. Murphy commended Mr. Cox on his collaboration with New Bedford and making sure Fairhaven waters are never forgotten.
Mr. Cox said they help each other on both sides of the harbor.
He said he appreciates the support he gets from staff at town hall, his staff and the Town Administrator’s office. His job changes every day, he said and it helps to have office support.
“I love my job,” said Mr. Cox. “I’m outside every day. I’m by the water every day.”
He said he never knows what will happen next.
“It’s just crazy,” he said. “But just the support I get from our team is unbelievable.”
Ms. Powers said there had been a real issue with the culture in town hall. Now she hears the department heads talking about “extensive collaboration” they have with other departments.
“It’s a big difference. And I want to point that out,” she said. “The happier the staff is, the better quality product we produce for our community.”
In another matter, the board approved an electrical “passageway” through Hoppy’s Landing for Eversource to run electricity to Blue Stream Shellfish, which operates on the abutting property.
Dale Leavitt told the board that the company has been waiting for Eversource to provide electrical service for more than three years. The town has allowed Blue Stream to use the service at Hoppy’s Landing, with the company paying for the electric at that property, too.
Eversource finally contacted them to move forward with electrical service, however, they found that the only way to get it to them would be to tie into a main on the opposite side of Goulart Memorial Drive, which would require digging a trench across the road. Or, they could access the feed at Hoppy’s. But to do that, Eversource needed the okay from the board to cross the property with the power line, which will be underground.
Mr. Leavitt said the project would also upgrade the service at Hoppy’s to 200 amps.
The board voted unanimously allow the passageway.
The board also convened in executive session for two items: to review executive session minutes from 12/18/23; to conduct strategy/negotiations for non-union personnel contracts (Angie Lopes Ellison).
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