WATERVILLE — City councilors weren’t ready Tuesday night to approve the establishment of a new code enforcement/planner position that ultimately could remove City Planner Ann Beverage from her job.

The council voted 5-2 to table until Feb. 3 voting on the change proposed by City Manager Michael Roy.

Roy cut Beverage’s full-time position to part-time with no benefits starting Jan. 1 as part of his plan to create a new position. Position changes are subject to council approval, but Roy didn’t get approval before cutting her hours from 40 to 20, thus eliminating her benefits.

Roy, who has power to hire and fire employees, said he decreased her hours to create an assistant code enforcement officer and part-time city planner. The new employee would help Code Enforcement Officer Garth Collins in his understaffed and busy office and learn the city planner’s job from Beverage. The new employee would take on Beverage’s job description, and she would be left with none, which Beverage says indicates her job will be cut entirely.

Councilor Karen Rancourt-Thomas, D-Ward 7, said Beverage has helped the city a lot, and it is not right to cut her hours and eventually say ‘See you later.’ “

“I just think we need to look at how valuable Ann Beverage is and has been to this city,” Rancourt-Thomas said.

Councilor Nathaniel White, a former Planning Board member, agreed.

“I worked with Ann on the Planning Board and seen what she does,” he said.

Roy said Monday that he expected Collins and Beverage would retire soon, and he wants a new person to learn their jobs.

But Beverage, 62, said Monday she does not want to retire, has enjoyed working for the city for 26 1/2 years and was surprised to learn her hours were cut so drastically.

Beverage sat quietly in the back of the council chambers Tuesday with her husband, Parker, as councilors discussed Roy’s proposal.

Roy said he doesn’t think the current city planner position requires 40 hours of work every week.

Councilor John O’Donnell, D-Ward 5, addressed Roy about how much the person in the new position would be paid.

“Mike, I think you’re thinking that a person filling half code, half planning might come on board for an entry level salary in the $45,000 range?” he said.

“I’m hopeful, yes,” Roy responded.

O’Donnell said he thought the city had not researched what other municipalities pay such a person, but Roy said he thought the salary would be comparable to that of similar positions in other communities. O’Donnell questioned whether other communities combine planner and code enforcement positions.

“I can’t say it happens frequently,” Roy said, adding that when he started working in city government, he worked half-time as an economic development person and half planner/code enforcement person in the town of Fairfield.

“So, you think it’s doable,” O’Donnell said.

“I think it’s doable — finding the right person is the key,” Roy said.

But Council Chairman Fred Stubbert, D-Ward 1, said he thinks there is a good case for the city’s having a second, full-time code enforcement officer. Collins, he said, takes in revenue far in excess of what it costs to operate his department, and that office has other potential sources of revenue but no one to do that work, Stubbert said. He said there are a lot of substantial, vacant buildings in the city that are not getting the attention they should, and another code enforcement person could work on that.

“I also think there’s a good case to be made for a full-time planner with expanded duties,” Stubbert said, adding that no one in the city now is writing or researching grants and the city is “missing the boat.”

He said other communities are charging $1,000 to $2,000 in fees to owners of vacant buildings in an effort to get them to improve or sell them, and Waterville has a huge number of such buildings.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “In some parts of the city, it’s building after building after building.”

Stubbert made a motion that councilors table the vote to allow for more discussion. White seconded his motion.

Meanwhile, Councilor Dana Bushee, D-Ward 6, asked whether anyone had looked at keeping the full-time city planner and hiring a part-time code officer instead of making the proposed change.

Roy said it was not looked at.

“I was trying to prevent addition of another position to the city budget,” he said.

Stubbert, White, Rancourt-Thomas and councilors Rosemary Winslow, D-Ward 3, and Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4, voted to table the issue. O’Donnell and Bushee voted against tabling.

Meanwhile, Planning Board member Justin DeMott issued a letter to Beverage and other Planning Board members saying he could not be at Tuesday’s meeting but wanted to say he opposes the change in Beverage’s position.

“Ann Beverage has been and continues to be a vital resource for the town of Waterville,” it says. “Her knowledge about our city is irreplaceable. Planning for our city’s future can not be done without a strong understanding of its past (which doesn’t come from training, but experience).”

DeMott said creating a position that incorporates two completely different job descriptions will cause difficulties in balancing responsibilities of both, and city planning currently works effectively.

“Do not break one department to fix another,” the letter says.

It also says Beverage’s employment status should not be changed “simply because she’s 60-plus and she may retire soon.”

“That is not how we should treat our most dedicated public servants.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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