[B]URLINGTON — A key committee of the Burlington City Council has given the green light to a reorganization plan that involves two city departments and could save the city more than $1 million. The plan approved by the Board of Finance now goes to the full council for final action.
The reorganization involves separate plans by the Burlington Electric Department and the Department of Planning and Zoning.
Burlington Electric’s General Manager Neale Lunderville said his plan will streamline operations for the utility by “trimming management” in order to “flatten” the organization and push authority out to front-line employees.
If approved by the council, the reorganization will save nearly $1.1 million annually, according to Lunderville. It will also help the utility avoid a rate increase. The last BED rate increase was in 2009.
Lunderville, a veteran of former Gov. Jim Douglas’ administration, was brought in last year as the interim general manager and was appointed permanently to that post this year. He told the board Monday that the reorganization will help BED stay competitive in a rapidly changing energy market.
His plan calls for reducing the number of senior managers from seven to three and placing them at the helm of three newly created “centers.” Those include the Innovation Center, responsible for power supply, financial management, information technology, efficiency programs, and grid design and development as well as new customer offerings.
The Center for Safety and Reliability will be responsible for management and supervision of BED’s engineering, operations, grid services, and generating facilities as well as planning, budgeting and ensuring the system is reliable.
The Center for Customer Care will be responsible for the customer service call center, education, marketing, community relations, communications and government affairs.
The restructuring involved a voluntary buyout program already approved by the City Council.
“We did this without any layoffs,” Lunderville told the board. Twenty-three employees took the buyout, of which 19 had retired as of Sept. 30. The rest are expected to retire by the end of the year.
BED will fill more than half of the positions left vacant as a result of the buyout. Once complete, the buyout will result in a reduction in staff from 133 to 120 — a 10 percent decrease. The number of union positions will be reduced by only 6 percent.
There are nearly 90 BED workers who belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 300, which is in contract negotiations with the city.
Planning and Zoning reorganization
Following the departure of longtime Planning and Zoning Assistant Director Ken Lerner, Director David White is seeking to eliminate that position and hire two senior planners.
The changes will result in a $21,106 reduction in full-year salary expenses, according to White.
The two senior planner positions will be filled by Mary O’Neil, who currently holds the senior planner title, and Scott Gustin, interim zoning administrator. Both would receive small raises.
The change will allow for the “cross-pollination” of ideas between the department’s permitting and long-term planning functions, White told the board.
A full-time associate planner will assist the two senior planners with administrative tasks.
During discussion of the proposal, City Council President Jane Knodell, P-Central District, asked to go into executive session in order to address “concerns related to a specific city employee.”
The board was in executive session for close to 30 minutes, and quickly thereafter approved the proposal for consideration by the full City Council. Mayor Miro Weinberger, who has a seat on the board, said he would vote for the proposal.
