Date of Meeting: Saturday, January 19, 2008
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: AM – 1:05 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton, Ken Sydow, Roger Deal
Others Present: Suzanne Olsen, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant; others as listed on sign-in sheet
TIF Update Atty. Mark Bobrowski (Blatman, Bobrowski and Mead) to touch base via telephone.
· Sent TIF drafts for other towns to be reviewed as samples.
· Ken: Stated he has been hearing initial responses to the effect: why should we reduce taxes when we need money; and why reduce them for Rand-Whitney if they’re already coming in. Needs to be sold at Town Meeting.
· Jim: Rand-Whitney wants to do a larger building,- beyond original plan.
· We would give up $10,000 to get $190K; benefit to the Town.
· Jobs are a positive thing, plus other agreements have gifts to Town, overtime, etc., long term. Also non-monetary benefits, such as maintaining ball fields, etc. This could encourage future businesses.
· Roger: Agrees that we need to do something to offer incentives for businesses to come into Town. For example, $190K versus $200K is better than nothing. We are trying long-term to level out taxes by bringing in commercial interests.
· [Placed phone call to Mark Bobrowski for conference call. Not available.]
· Schools Update:
· Jim has a meeting on Tuesday. Berlin has agreed to split debt of capital versus operational budget cost for new school building (2%/2% as of now).
· Since Attorney Madaus feels we can’t win by using operating budget formula, we should take a compromise.
· Berlin also is agreeing to add the 6th grade to Tahanto High School. They don’t want to open agreement.
· Roger: Interviewed the last four candidates for Superintendent. A vote was taken to recommend four to the School Board. The School Board will now do a final analysis and make a selection. The Search Committee is no longer involved. Another possibility is to keep Joe for another year or two, if agreeable.
· Sue: Would that require an amendment to the regional agreement? Response: Yes.
· Board is in agreement---if it is a 50%-50% split for the difference plus adding a the 6th grade to Tahanto, go ahead.
Rachel Jameson (Pub waitress):
· Wants to utilize the Town House to teach sign language once a week for five weeks. The majority of students are residents/teachers in Boylston. She is requesting a fee waiver for the Town House since she is providing a service to the Town.
· Decided on a $50 (or whatever single week fee is) fee for all five weeks (versus paying each week) and leave the facility as found.
· Roger motioned as above, Ken seconded the motion, voted All in Favor.
Meeting scheduled with Mark Bobrowski:
· Jim: Would like all of the Board to be there, but if not possible to be there, all need to be on the same page.
· All: Would like TIF agreement worked out with some contributions to the Town.
· Roger: Leans toward tangible things, e.g., maintain ball field.
· Sue: Spoke with McNabb (Rand-Whitney) and agreed with Bobrowski on amount to be paid for his services. McNabb is to send a check to Sue; she asked where it should go. The Treasurer will put it in an escrow account for (1) ETA, (2) TIF, (3) economic opportunity = $10K for Mark’s services that Rand-Whitney will pay.
Town Administrator: Next steps:
· Jim: From the resumes, saw a few he’d be interested in interviewing.
· Ken: We should come up with a list of qualifications we are looking for, including five-year needs and requirements, then see which resumes “fit.” Do we do our own screening, or should we hire a consultant. Not sure of the cost and scope of their services.
· Jim: The School Board hired an agency for the Superintendent search; they only do administrative functions – no recruiting, etc.
· Jim: Would want someone with prior municipal management experience (Assistant Administrator also okay). We need someone to help manage growth of expenses in addition to growth of revenue. Someone to manage healthcare plan for opportunities; coordination of administrative services among employees in Town Hall. We also need someone to help manage future municipal construction projects (school, DPW, library, etc).
· Sue: A project manager would be required by the state for municipal building projects.
· Ken: The Town Administrator should be able to rely on the project manager for information also.
o We also should determine residency requirements,- okay for now.
o Planners, Treasurers also could be considered as prior experience.
o R.E. Project management experience.
o Can build consensus; work well with others.
· Roger: Top priority: solid management track record; willing to come in and over a period of time ability to reorganize and restructure internal operations. An experienced manager will be able to evaluate what works and what needs changing.
· Jim: Same situations due to By-laws. The Board of Selectmen has the authority (e.g., independently elected positions versus appointed).
· Roger: The person cannot be afraid to make necessary changes.
· Sue: Some elected positions would need to be changed to appointed positions before changes are made in management by Town Administrator or Board of Selectmen.
· Roger: If changes are needed. The person (Town Administrator) would need to be given the opportunity to make unbiased changes over time.
· Jim: How would they manage someone who doesn’t report directly to them?
· Roger: Would it be money well spent to bring someone in who could pre-screen pre-qualified applicants? Not sure of the cost.
· Ken: We’d need to determine the scope of the services, then the cost.
· Jim: Stated he has done it both ways: with and without a screening committee. He wants to at least see all resumes; if we hire someone to review them, it shouldn’t be a substitute for the Board of Selectmen’s involvement. We could decide on a few to talk to. Come up with a list of questions and do individual phone interviews. We could then invite them in for an interview and reduce it to two or three. Then interview with Joe, Tony and Don. Then we hire someone to do the reverse – go to their community and interview others and staff they previously worked with.
· Roger: Agrees,- feels we should all review together to get different perspectives from each Board member.
· Ken: Even if we need to get an interim administrator until we find the right person, that is what we should do. Ken asked Sue if she would possibly want to stay on for a month or two, if necessary.
· Jim: I would also like any potential candidate give us a presentation.
· Roger: I will give a copy of the Superintendent search info to Sue.
Brief discussion regarding Fire Chief’s salary. Recent survey was completed,-- he’s low-end.
Over the next week, swap questions.
Lori to coordinate.
· Sue: Needs to know if she should file for retirement income or not. Sue and Jim spoke about her staying on after retirement. It would be 20 hours a week on special projects. She can’t
work 20 hours if she is collecting retirement.
· Jim: Since we are almost into February, we can’t hire before Sue leaves. If we ask Sue to move her retirement date to July 1, to hire before then, we have to start in May/June for overlap before Sue leaves. (Originally April 1 was retirement date.)
· Ken: Does that work for Sue? Sue’s response was Yes. Beyond that, a maximum of 20 hours a week. No changes will be made yet. Just wanted to be sure Sue is available, if necessary. Ken asked Sue for her input regarding the Town Administrator.
· Sue: Possibly change the position to Town Manager in order to have more power to appoint and take some pressure off the Selectmen.
· Jim: That would require a Charter and it couldn’t be done in time for July 1.
· Sue: The next phase of Town development is beyond her expertise.
Meeting adjourned at 1:05 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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