FARMINGTON — A maintenance employee will be shared by two departments to help complete maintenance projects.

Town Manager Erica LaCroix told the Select Board on Tuesday she met the previous week with the directors of the public works and parks and recreation departments to discuss maintenance.

“I have been a proponent of moving maintenance under one umbrella to better utilize staff and equipment,” she said.

As a result of the meeting, the two departments will share a worker.

“This will ensure that our parks and recreation custodian has the help she needs, that public works and parks (directors) will coordinate their equipment and staff needs, and there is no down time when there’s nothing for the employee to do,” LaCroix said.

This does not eliminate the need for part-time summer help, but it will go a long way toward ensuring that maintenance operations operate more smoothly and efficiently, she said.

The town has been struggling to find eligible seasonal workers because of restrictions on age and the fact that those under 18 are not allowed to operate equipment such lawn mowers.

“It will also allow an on-call rotation for weekends and holidays for both departments,” LaCroix said.

The position will be advertised as a lower level work classification, which aligns with the current classification of the Parks and Recreation custodian and is a lower classification than the current Public Works laborer.

“This is justified by the elimination of specialized training for the Public Works laborer, such as traffic signaling and chainsaw certification that the current position was going to be tasked with,” she said.