Short week works for public works

Public works staff  here will continue working four-day weeks in the summer time, after Minto council agreed to make a pilot project involving longer hours and a four day week permanent.

Public works director Brian Hansen, in an Oct. 23 report to council, indicated the experiment this past summer resulted in reduced overtime hours. A comparison presented by Hansen showed staff put in just 185 overtime hours last summer, compared to more than 500 hours in each of the past two years, resulting in a saving of about $10,000.

Hansen noted the longer days match better with the hours kept by private contractors town staff work with during the construction season.