PERU — Road work, wasp nests and holiday pay were topics for discussion at Monday night’s selectmen meeting.
Road Commissioner Joe Roach said a 1,000-foot section of Gammon Road will be paved this summer. His crew has dug test pits, removed boulders and ledge and done other work on the road. In a few weeks, a contractor will grind up the surface and the road crew will add gravel where needed to prepare the road for paving.
Roach said he planned to give his crew Wednesday and Thursday, July 2 and 3, off because they regularly do not work Fridays. The crew works 10-hour days Monday through Thursday in the summer.
Town policy gives all employees two days off for July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Selectman Jim Pulsifer said the road crew should not get 10 hours pay for July 2 and 3 because a holiday is considered eight hours and the crew would need to put in four hours on Wednesday to have a full 40-hour pay week.
Pulsifer pointed out that the decision to work four 10-hour days during the summer instead of five eight-hour days was strictly for their convenience.
Selectmen revised the Personnel Policy to make it clear that holiday pay would be for eight hours, even for those who normally work a 10-hour day.
Town Clerk Vera Parent said the cost of town insurance is increasing from $14,733 to $15,544, or by about 5½ percent.
Resident Dawna Kazregis asked selectmen if they had considered getting prices from other companies. She said she saved appreciably on her personal insurance by shopping around.
Several selectmen said they had also saved hundreds of dollars by checking with other companies, but the board took no formal action on the insurance.
Selectmen approved six personal property tax abatements for trailers that have changed ownership or been taken out of town.
Selectmen Secretary Angela Barkhouse said wasps building nests under the Town Office eves have been invading the office. Although she has removed two small nests, she did not want to attack a larger one.
Resident Tyler McDonald offered to get rid of the wasps. Several residents and selectmen offered suggestions on how to attack the wasps, but only McDonald offered to do it.
Martha Witherell asked when selectmen would take action on the Charter Committee authorized by the town voters.
Pulsifer said it’s a study committee that could come back with a recommendation that no charter is needed. Selectmen will take up creation of the committee at their next regular meeting.
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