North Stonington — The committee looking into alternative forms of government administration offered recommendations Monday for two new positions at Town Hall: an administration and finance officer as well as a planning and community development position.

These additional positions would bring continuity to town government as well as making it easier to manage and take some of the day-to-day pressure off the first selectman, members of the Town Government Structure Committee said during their presentation to the Board of Selectmen.

The administration and finance officer would prepare the annual budget with review from the first selectman, maintain records, develop duties and responsibilities for other town employees, appoint and promote employees under his or her jurisdiction and be responsible for town capital assets, among other roles.

The responsibilities of the planning and community development officer would be to execute the Plan of Conservation and Development alongside the selectmen and land use committees, organize economic development efforts, develop demographic and land use data as well as provide assistance to members of the public and developers.

Currently the first selectman is responsible for the duties listed in the administration and finance officer position.

The duties listed for the planning and community development officer have in the past been split between the planning and zoning official and the economic development coordinator.

However, with the hiring of former Town Planner Juliet Hodge by First Selectman Shawn Murphy, combining the town's planning and zoning officer with the part-time economic development coordinator position, the broader Planning and Community Development position has for the most part already been created.

Government structure committee members were pleased with the hiring of Hodge, who authored the 2013 Plan of Conservation and Development. She began work March 6.

"Her new role is very close to what we had envisioned," committee member Nita Kincaid wrote in an email.

The new positions would be overseen by the first selectman, and would coordinate with various other committees and departments in town.

The two major elements of management are administration and planning, said government structure committee member Daniel Spring, and right now "we have more administration and less planning."

The framework for town planning is spelled out in the town's Plan of Conservation of Development, but the committee concluded that the government doesn't have enough staff to work toward implementing it.

"We're so busy with the day-to-day (that it) isn't giving us enough time to get action plans in place" for the vision, Spring said.

The town's chief executive, the first selectman, theoretically could be a new person every two years, the committee noted.

Adding a finance and administration position, as well as a planning and community development position, "puts a little more depth on the bench" as well as "brings in expertise and coordination," Spring added.

The committee also recommended the addition of two more town committees for additional support: a Plan of Conservation and Development Action Committee, which would develop steps to implement the plan, and a Capital Projects Committee, which would oversee town construction.

As part of its six-month research into alternate forms of town structure, the committee heard presentations from past and present presidents of the Connecticut Town and City Manager's Association, and looked at towns of similar size throughout Connecticut and as far afield as a comprehensive study of town administration in Iowa.

The research of North Stonington included interviews with Murphy and examining state statutes to understand the organizational limits of a town that doesn't have a charter.

The committee also received feedback from a multiple-choice survey distributed to the 79 town employees it was able to reach. Responses and additional comments from the 38 people who responded were categorized and analyzed.

The top two takeaways from the survey were that "economic development is a priority" but that "progress is slow" and that "more coordination, communication and support is desirable" for the town's employees and volunteer committees.

Murphy, who requested the study, noted in past meetings that the first selectman could take up a role focused on planning and policymaking if the job had fewer administrative responsibilities. 

The selectmen likely will take up the study again during their meeting next week.

This story has been updated to clarify that planning official Juliet Hodge's new role reflects the committee's recommendation.

n.lynch@theday.com