The Wellington Village Council will review the employment contract of Village Manager Paul Schofield at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Schofield has gone through difficult times with the current council, with some members seeking to replace him two years ago. His current contract is up for renewal next month, although the contract signed in 2010 does not actually expire until Feb. 14, 2016. If the council wishes to, the current contract can be renewed for one year.
Mayor Bob Margolis asked two months ago that Schofield’s contract be placed on a future agenda.
In other business, the council is expected to consider a resolution approving the village’s Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office law enforcement services plan for the 2016 fiscal year.
The PBSO and village are now in the fifth year of a five-year contract. Typically, the law enforcement contract is renewed every five years. The village is currently in its fourth five-year agreement.
Last year, the village added a detective sergeant, a detective and a road patrol deputy to the contract in order to improve the solvability rate in property crime and provide more traffic enforcement.
At 2.4 percent, the crime rate for Wellington is lower than in the county overall, which is at 3.7 percent. The satisfaction level with the PBSO in a resident survey has been at 4.8 or higher on a scale of 5 from 2010 to 2014.
The council will also consider a request from the PBSO to purchase a narcotics detection canine using a portion of funds seized and placed in the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.
Capt. Jay Hart made the request at the urging of Councilman Matt Willhite at an earlier meeting.
“With recent case law narrowing the time to bring a narcotics detection canine to a scene, and the volume of quality cases being made, it is my belief that the acquisition of a narcotics detection canine is justified,” Hart wrote in a letter to Schofield.
The purchase of the canine is not to exceed $10,000, and the outfitting of an existing vehicle with a kennel, heat sensor, electronics and one year of cellular communication would be $4,500, for a total of $14,500.
The council will also consider an addendum to the law enforcement service agreement increasing the total annual funding to $8,393,813 to pay for four additional crossing guards and change one deputy to a K9 deputy.
Also on Tuesday, the council will consider the authorization of a change order with Pirtle Construction for structural changes to the new Wellington Community Center, amend the existing contract by adding federal grant provisions, and adding exterior windows and doors. The cost is not to exceed $480,000 for structural changes and $333,984 to add the windows and doors.
ABOVE: Village Manager Paul Schofield.
