Granby Selectmen Act on War Memorial, Union Contract

The Granby Board of Selectmen moved purposefully through a short and varied agenda Monday night, taking action on a union contract, a war memorial and issuing a few announcements and proclamation.

The war memorial, which will be placed in honor of local military members who served and were lost in the war on terror, is planned for the town green. It received conditional approval. The selectmen noted the positives of the project and said the conditional part of the approval meant that various department officials would be consulted to make sure the monument was properly situated.

“The town will work with the American Legion to make sure everything is OK,” said selectman Ronald Desrosiers.

The memorial, estimated at a cost of about $12,000 and paid for by the American Legion, will feature a plaque for Richard Emmons III, an Army specialist from Granby who died in 2011.

Jim Hall, who presented the plan to the selectmen, said the plan is for the monument to be ready by Veterans Day in November.

The selectmen disapproved an agreement with the local public works and dispatchers union, with Town Manager Bill Smith noting in a memorandum to the board that he “indicated that the proposed wages might not be acceptable to the town.” Wage increases of 2.5 percent were present in the first two years of the contract, while increases of 2.75 percent were asked for in the contract’s last two years.

A discussion among the selectmen provided consensus that the increases were too high for their tastes.

“I would agree on the statement that it seems a little high,” said First Selectman John Adams.

While time is running out for negotiations between the town and the union because of state statutes, Smith said he is working with the unions and hopes to get a deal done. A unanimous vote disapproved the contact proposal and sent the two parties back to the bargaining table.

The board also issued a proclamation honoring Granby’s senior citizens for Senior Center Month, announced the Celebrate Granby event occurring on Friday and Saturday and asked for interested local students to send a note explaining why they should be a student liaison to the board to the town manager’s office in the next week.