CHELSEA — Selectmen are considering increasing the hours of a town office assistant to provide better service to customers.

Town Manager Scott Tilton said the hours per week Town Office Clerk Susan Phelps works should be increased from 10 to 33.5. Her pay would go from $12,000 to $26,000.

Last week he asked selectmen to consider his proposal.

Town Clerk Lisa Gilliam, who is on the job 33.5 hours a week, is considered full time, he said. Tilton said he works 40-plus hours a week managing the town.

He said next year’s wage and salary plan includes a full-time manager and two full-time office employees.

“I try to concentrate on the management stuff and the manager before me did more of the office work,” Tilton said. “There’s a kind of difference in the way the jobs are being done. Two at the counter would be best.”

Three employees, including the town manager, work in the Town Office.

Tilton also asked the select board last week to consider hiring an assessor’s agent if the town finalizes a townwide revaluation. He said the person would work 15 hours a week and be paid $15,600.

“If we do a revaluation, which hasn’t been decided yet, we’ll need someone to keep up with all the paperwork that’s required,” he said.

Chelsea has never had a professional revaluation. The need for one came to light last year, when it was reported nearly 70 property owners filed for tax abatements in 2010 — more than any other town in Kennebec County.

The town received 68 tax abatement requests, of which 63 were granted.

Officials said a revaluation is needed because the assessing process in Chelsea is complex and difficult to follow. The town needs to pay an independent appraiser for a townwide revaluation and establish a board of assessors to review abatements, officials said. A Board of Assessment Review was established last June.

Tilton is also proposing an ordinance that would require payment for services, other than fires, delivered by the fire department.

“It would be for extractions or if they are called in to do a hazmat operation — clean up oil or antifreeze — that kind of thing,” he said. “Basically, it’s anytime the rescue service is needed or a fire truck is called to an accident scene. It’s worked for other towns and is a way to raise additional funds to defray the cost of the fire department.”

He said the town could earn between $3,000 and $7,000 a year and most of the money would be paid out by insurance companies.

Tilton said officials agreed to pay up to $700 to hire legal counsel to negotiate a franchise contract with Time Warner Cable. Chelsea is part of a consortium that includes Gardiner, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Pittston, Randolph and Windsor.

“We’re trying to make sure the bulk of the town will be able to receive cable services,” he said.

Tilton said the town also signed an agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation that will allow Chelsea’s municipal vehicles to purchase diesel fuel at its depots. The closest transportation department depot is in Randolph.

Mechele Cooper — 621-5663

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