Town of Springfield to save up to $100K

Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerrell had some good news for the board of selectmen at its regular meeting on Monday evening: improvements in safety could cut the worker’s compensation premium by as much as $100,000.

www.eagletimes.com/

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Town of Springfield to save up to $100K By STEPHEN SEITZ Special to the Eagle Times Town of Springfield, Vt. COURTESY SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerrell had some good news for the board of selectmen at its regular meeting on Monday evening: improvements in safety could cut the worker’s compensation premium by as much as $100,000. Yennerell said the town was currently paying $420,000, due to a sharp increase last year. “The premiums don’t usually fluctuate like that,” Yennerell said. Yennerell said the town had taken significant steps in the last two years to make working for the town safer, such as creating a safety committee and hiring a medical care provider. “We now have a safety committee to go over accidents,” Yennerell said. “Their job is to make sure there won’t be a repeat. We also have a designated health care provider and occupational therapist at the new medical facility in Charlestown. The workers will get better care and return to work sooner.” The Charlestown Health Center is an arm of Springfield Medical Care Systems. In his written report, Yennerell credited not only the safety committee, but also efforts by the human resources department and town staff for the improvements over the last two years. In other action, Springfield Town Library Director Amy Howlett shared the library’s long-term strategic plans with the selectmen, which she said would take five years. “I’m pleased to say that the town has embraced it,” Howlett said. “I’ve had very few calls against it.” Howlett said the plan had three areas of concentration: to serve as a community hub, create a learning center for all ages, and to modernize and improve the library. “We’ve actually been operating on this plan since January,” she said. Selectman Mike Martin said he had participated in the public meetings the library held to gather comments from the community. “I’m pleased to see that many of the suggestions made it into the plan,” he said. “We didn’t take all the suggestions,” Howlett said. “We are not, for instance, going to blow out the rear wall and install plate glass instead.” Howlett said she would post the plan on the library’s website, and also write a one-page fact sheet.