Transcribed from the Town Manager Matthew Sturgis' Monthly Report delivered at the May 8, 2023 Town Council Meeting

I would like to remind everybody that we will be having our Memorial Day festivities again this year; this is year two of the new route.  The new route will be starting at the middle school, coming through the center of town and finishing here at the Village Green.   Details are available on the town’s website.

The big area of discussion I have for this evening is that we are looking to change the operating hours for Town Hall, Public Works and the Recycling Center.  During the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic, many organizations, business, and other employers have reviewed and reevaluated their operations, how employees work, when customers’ needs are to be met, and what alternatives exist to the traditional employment models.  Remote working, working from home, virtual meetings, longer in-person days, and four-day work weeks have grown as employment models during this time.  

Over the first quarter of 2023, the manager and staff evaluated the concept of a four-day work schedule. We surveyed multiple communities employing such a schedule, evaluating if making such a change would benefit our organization.  After carefully considering, the recommendation by management is to change to a four-day work schedule, with extended hours from the current schedule.  What we are looking to do is change the operations of Town Hall to four days, effective July 1st.

The Town Hall will be open on Mondays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesdays through Thursdays 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., then closed on Fridays and weekends.  This will include the Town Clerk’s office, Tax Office, Finance, Assessing, Code Enforcement, Planning Department and the manager.  

The hours of operations for Public Works will also be changing to Monday through Thursday 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM and closed on Fridays and weekends. 

The Recycling Center’s operating hours will also change and will be open on Tuesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on Thursdays as it is now, and then open on Fridays and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  The seasonal special hours will continue on the current schedule.  This will hopefully eliminate the confusion that many folks have over a Monday holiday that results in an occasional Tuesday opening.  

Historically the demand for services at Town Hall are greatest in the early-morning hours and the demand for services later in the day are less.  However, we believe that by having a late close on Mondays and adding the additional half hour Tuesday through Thursday should assist in meeting that later demand.  We are trying to capture the best hours that we do find folks needing our services.  Also, we're hoping that by having the Tuesday operations open that it will improve the ability for people to use our services at the Recycling Center  on those days with the revised schedule.

Also, over the past few years there's been an increase in online services, which remain available 24 hours a day and will still be available 24 hours a day.  Online services are available for: property tax payments; auto registrations; boat registrations; hunting and fishing licenses; dog licenses;  as well as building, plumbing, electrical, and other Code Enforcement permits. Those are all available online and they have increased access to those outside of our normal operating hours.

Part of our schedule change is to hopefully improve some of our services during the weekend by having extended hours and then revising our midweek hours at the Recycling Center.  The new schedule is also an effort to improve our ability to retain and recruit employees and extending our normal hours will hopefully work with their schedules as well.  We are also looking to reduce the cost of utilities and maintenance by being closed on those Fridays.

Other communities have also employed this system.  Currently, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport, Windham, Scarborgouh, Biddeford, Standish, North Yarmouth, and New Gloucester are many of the surrounding communities that follow this type of schedule.  There are many other communities pursuing the same changes as we speak and many who have had that same schedule since 2007.   The other departments will operate on the current schedules they have, such as the Thomas Memorial Library, Donald L. Richards Pool and Facilities Center, and Community Services.  The schedules for each of these departments were reviewed and adjusted in 2020 to meet their demand for services.

Ultimately, our approach from this point will be to share this information with the community.  Starting with this evening, and then working to get the word out via the Courier; our website; postings at the town office, community services, the library; mobile message boards at town center and the recycling center; and other methods that will help to spread the word of these changes.  There are seven weeks until we make this change and we are trying to make sure people have enough time make those adjustments.