Council approves Clerk-Treasurer office reorganization after debate over transaction window

Emily (clerk-treasurer) presented a proposal to reconfigure the front office so a staff member sits at a visible customer-service window where residents can be served immediately, rather than walking to separate internal counters. She said the plan would use savings from an unfilled position to pay for the work and listed specific changes including repurposing the copy room into a private HR office and adding a baffle-style transaction window at the current location of 'Jill's' office.

"I'd like to put in a customer service window at, what is Jill's office right now," Emily said while outlining the layout and the workflow benefits of a visible point of contact. She described the baffle window as a two-pane, bullet-resistant assembly that permits sound and air transfer while maintaining security and provided an initial quote of about $7,800 for the transaction window and an overall construction estimate of roughly $15,000 for layout changes.

Council members debated trade-offs between customer access and employee security. One council member said prior installations of glass were expensive and worried adding more partitions would reduce public interaction; Emily responded that the baffle design improves audibility for residents who are hard of hearing while preserving physical protection. After a motion to approve the updates excluding the baffle window failed for lack of a second, the council subsequently voted to accept the administrative proposal as presented. The work was discussed to start in mid-October with a target completion in November, funded from current-year vacancy savings rather than new recurring budget allocations.