DALTON, Mass. — The Green Committee recommending that the town consider hiring a sustainability manager. 

 

Committee members last week voted to have Chair David Wasielewski create a presentation for the Select Board to demonstrate the need for this position. 

 

The role of a sustainability manager would be to stay up to date on the volume of information surrounding sustainability and advocate and be a proponent of green initiatives, committee members said. 

 

There are so many moving parts in town government and variables that need to be considered which understandably slows down decision making, committee member Todd Logan said. 

 

 Because of the complexity and importance of sustainability, they felt there should be a staff member who specializes on the topic to aid in quicker decision making before the information becomes out of date. 

 

The sustainability manager would keep the town manager and Select Board informed on the constantly changing landscape of climate change and aid in the best procedure to address it, committee members said. 

 

There needs to be positional authority in town to assess the problem, know what questions to ask, and find the solution that best fits Dalton, committee members said.

 

"We might have knowledge authority, but we don't have positional authority. We can advocate but we can’t make it happen," Logan said. 

 

In terms of visioning ideal long-term goals, addressing staffing concerns should be considered while taking account of the town's restrictions, Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said during the Select Board strategy session on Oct. 2 

 

"Related to that, staffing items in general, I think we have a great staff. I think everybody is at this point pretty much stretched to their limit," Hutcheson said. 

 

During the budgeting process last year, Hutcheson said he would not recommend any new staffing this year. However, at the same time, he said the more projects the town undertakes more hours are required to complete them. 

 

"It does take person-hours to do and figuring out just how much is an ongoing process. Change can be very slow in towns because the funding is annual cycle and the authorizations," he said 

 

If the town were to address staffing, Hutcheson would like to see the town prioritize hiring in the following order: someone specializing in human resources and procurement, a social worker in a re-organized Department of Health and Human Services who would also cover veterans services, and a sustainability director in the planning department.

 

Hiring for government positions is difficult because of the town inability to offer competitive salaries compared to the private sector. Positions in the private sector can pay more than in town government, Hutcheson said. 

 

Last year the town approved salary increases to attract more people to but even that does not compare to what the private sector is getting. 

 

"Regarding sustainability, taken as ecological sustainability, it is both perhaps the more serious issue of our time and one in which tremendous synergies can be found as we organize our municipal work," Hutcheson said in an email follow-up. 

 

This can be by lowering trash-hauling fees by composting household organic waste, lowering energy cost by increasing conservation efforts and enhancing the town's renewable energy use and production.

 

"Of course, we also have to plan for natural disasters and increase our reliance in the face of increased water damage from storms and related climate matters," Hutcheson said. 

 

"Arguably, we can also sustain our community through more affordable housing, adapting our zoning by-laws, and adjusting other factors in our Master Plan toward long-term livability."