The East Longmeadow Human Resources Department’s new home should be ready mid-January

Dec. 15, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW – Renovations at Town Hall would be mostly completed in mid-January to make space for the addition of a three-member Human Resources (HR) Department.

The HR Department is expected to start work sometime next month.

Town Manager Denise Menard told Reminder Publications the first phase of this renovation would consist of moving the town manager’s office to the former meeting room next door. Menard’s current office would be utilized as an HR office.

“That means the new town manager’s office ... needs to be done first,” she explained. “The timeline for that is ... mid-January.”

The most likely office to be constructed after the new town manager’s office would be the HR office, she noted.

"And the back half of my current office would be a conference room, but if there’s disruption in some office with the construction they’ll be able to use this and the space adjacent to my new office as the space to work in,” Menard said.

She added the project is being done in-house to save money for the town.

Menard said current Benefits Administrator Corinne Tranghese would join the new HR department alongside an HR director and a support staff position for both jobs.

“[Tranghese] will be working under the director of human resources at that point,” Menard noted. “Right now she is working directly for me.

The town has published an advertisement for an HR director, but the list of candidates has yet to be finalized, Menard said.  

Menard said she believes the new HR Department would help her utilize her time as town manager better.

“I’m not a specialist,” she explained. “I’ve done enough HR so I do know the basic functions of it, but somebody who specializes in it is really what is needed – negotiating contracts; handling when a new employee is needed or hired; or someone who is going through the process of leaving our employment … It will be a good addition all the way around.”

Menard said the next Town Hall improvement project would entail turning a restroom near the Town Clerk’s office into a kitchen and break room area.

“This building will be under constant change, I think,” she noted.     “We’re also looking for a grant for design work for an elevator in the building. Even if we get all the work done, we still have an elevator that’s needed to make really good use of the upper floor.”

She added the elevator would also make the upper floors accessible to individuals with disabilities.

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