Swampscott Dedicates $100K In ARPA Funds To Non-Union Town Employees

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott will dedicate more than $100,000 of its $4.6 million in federal American Recovery Plan Act funding to compensate non-union town employees for their extended efforts during the COVID-19 health crisis.

The Select Board voted unanimously to split $100,250 among 35 non-union employees determined to have put in extra time and effort to serve town residents and sustain town services during the early part of the pandemic.

The action came after union employees were able to negotiate similar payments totaling about $311,000, which the town used ARPA money to fund, into their new collective bargaining agreements. In total, the compensation accounts for about 9 percent of Swampscott's overall ARPA allocation.

"These are employees — many of whom worked every single day during the pandemic — with meetings every morning and, frankly, worked tirelessly to help support the extraordinary demands of the pandemic," Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald told the Select Board on Wednesday.

"These funds are earmarked specifically to help provide compensation for our employees for critical services and help us ensure that we are recognizing and supporting the financial investments in the workforce."

The payments work out to about $3,000 per non-union employee.

While all Select Board members ultimately supported the allocation there was some discussion about three employees who were set to receive payments even though they no longer work for the town. All three employees served the town during what was described as "the bulk of the pandemic" but have since voluntarily left their positions.

The identity of the three former employees was not revealed beyond that one of them was retired Swampscott Police Chief Ron Madigan.

"The thought process of this was really not just taking into consideration these employees, but also what their families missed out on and had to bear in terms of burden," Fitzgerald said. "I think it's important to just recognize the extraordinary demands (they faced). We had met at the beginning of the pandemic extensively and it was really challenging.

"We had to make some difficult positions. Many of the staff were criticized roundly and publicly on social media for decisions that they had to make and they performed admirably and helped keep people safe. I think we would be remiss not to recognize these individuals and make sure folks understand the incredible value they bring to public service. That is the reason I included them in this list."

Recently-elected Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher made a motion to amend the payment to take out the approximately $12,000 approved for those three employees but that motion failed on a 3-2 vote with recently-elected Select Board member Katie Phelan also voting to exclude the former employees.

When it came to approving the full $100,250 all five Select Board members voted for the payments with Fletcher and Phelan both saying that they were for the pandemic compensation for the non-union employees overall even if they objected to giving to those who have since left town employment of their own volition.

The Select Board held a special meeting to vote on these specific payments on Wednesday and this summer will take up the best uses for the remaining $4.1 million in town APRA funds.

All funds utilized must be for services and work done prior to Dec. 31, 2024, under federal APRA guidelines.

Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)