2006-11-20 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Ms. Stremski asked whether there was another form for leave without pay, and Ms. Garson said the leave of absence form included that. In looking at the form, Mr. Joseph said it appeared to be consolidated already, listing vacation, sick leave, funeral leave, etc. Motion Withdrawn: Ms. Nicholson withdrew her motion. Motion and Vote: Ms. Nicholson moved to delete this recommendation from their list. Ms. Provalenko seconded the motion, and all members voted aye. Department of Environmental Management: Recommend hiring an additional engineer (or exploring the position and having a long -term plan to fund it, or having a long -term vision plan). Ms. Stremski said she saw something recently on the Council agenda about hiring an engineer, but she did not know which department it was for. She said it could be on their list anyway, and if it was already provided for, that would be fine. Ms. Garson said they could include it, and she would check if it was already provided for, in which case they could delete it later. Ms. Nicholson said the recommendation was not clear and needed clarification regarding the long -term vision plan. She said they could recommend that DEM determine the need for hiring and whether there would be a cost savings associated with hiring additional engineers. The Chair said he recalled that the engineer was doing the grant- writing and multi- tasking and falling behind in his engineering because of doing these other duties. Motion and Vote: Mr. Joseph moved to defer i and j to the next agenda, as he said he needs to review what was said at the earlier meetings. Ms. Nicholson seconded the motion, and all members voted aye. k. Department of Public Works (Highway Maintenance): Recommend pursuing negotiations with the union to go to a 10 -hour, 4 -day work schedule for employees. Motion and Vote: Ms. Nicholson moved to include this recommendation in their report, Mr. Joseph seconded the motion, and all members voted aye. 1. Department of Public Works (Highway Maintenance): Recommend that incorporating or consolidating all the State highways into the County highways system be pursued. Mr. Joseph said that although Joseph Kamelamela had spoken to the Commission about his opposition to this recommendation because of liability matters, the head of the Highway Maintenance Division, Stanley Nakasone, was for it. Mr. Joseph felt the consolidation made good sense and would save the County money. Funds could be pursued from both the State and 20