The board representing the Council on Aging met with the Select Board Monday night to request extra hours for the activities coordinator position. Doing so, however, would mean the position is eligible for town-funded benefits.

While everyone on the Select Board agreed that the Council on Aging does a great deal for the town, the board, for the past several years, has operated under a policy to not extend hours for part timers as a means of keeping costly benefits down.

Following nearly an hour of discussion, the Select Board opted to grant an exception to the policy, granting the Council on Aging the authority to extend the activities coordinator’s hours and give her benefits. However, the exception only applied to the current coordinator and would not apply to any future hires.

Susan Mandra-Thompson, the head of the Council on Aging’s board, said the senior center aims to offer more classes later in the day. In order to make that happen, her board requested that the activities coordinator position, currently held by Nancy Miller, be extended from an 18-hour position to a 28-hour position.

The activities coordinator’s salary is currently funded through grant money, but extending her hours would mean the position would include benefits paid by the town. Treasurer Gregory Barnes estimated that this could cost roughly $18,500, most of which would be spent on health care and pension benefits.

While grant money can technically be used to fund benefits, Council on Aging director Heather Sylvia said that doing so would mean she would have to cut programs because the grant is also used to pay instructors.

Mandra-Thompson argued that the amount of money that the Friends of the Elderly has donated to the senior center over the years has saved the town millions in renovation and expansion costs.

“For the benefits, it’s just a small request compared to what the Friends of the Elderly has paid to the Council on Aging,” said Mandra-Thompson. “If they didn’t pay it, the town would’ve had to pay it.”

Town Administrator David Cressman said that, over the past several years, the Select Board has held a policy of not increasing hours for workers beyond 20 hours per week.

All four members of the board acknowledged it was a complicated decision because, as much as they support the work of the Council on Aging, adding another benefit package was against policy.

“I’m fully supportive of adding hours. What I’m not supportive of is adding benefits,” said Select Board member Frank Gracie. “If we start going against our policies, that sets a bad precedent, and there’s a reason for those policies.”

Select Board chair Shawn McDonald said adding another part time person could be a better option because it would be cheaper than the cost of paying benefits, even up to 18 hours.

“I think that’s more in line with the town’s policy and it gets you an additional person,” said McDonald.

Gracie echoed the sentiment, saying that, in the past, the Town Clerk’s office and library have made similar arguments about the need for additional staffers who would receive benefits, but adding part time members would be the best course of action because it “helps the situation without violating the policy.”

Maria Connor, the president of the Friends of the Elderly, adamantly disagreed, saying that, “with this type of position, two part-timers are not going to work very well.” Council on Aging board member Edward Iacaponi argued that part timers are harder to retain because applicants will eventually leave the job for one that offers benefits.

After nearly an hour of discussion, the two boards compromised.

Select Board member Stanley Mickelson motioned that the board extend Miller’s hours and offer her benefits. However, the offer came with caveats.

“If this person leaves, the new hire will not get these benefits,” said Mickelson. “It has to be specific to this one position, this one person.”

The Select Board voted 3 to 1 in favor of the motion. Gracie was the one opposing vote. Cressman said the changes will take effect as soon as the Council on Aging revises the grant, likely sometime at the beginning of the year.