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BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S MEETING
MARCH 15, 2011
Chairman Story opened the meeting at 4:03 p.m. with the pledge of allegiance to our flag. Purpose of this meeting was to conduct public interviews of three candidates for the position of Town Administrator. In attendance were Selectmen Story, Bear, Bulgaris, Keller, Walker and Acting TA Penski. The first candidate was Tracy Blais.
Chairman Story welcomed Ms. Blais and asked “why she thought she would be a good fit for Newbury”. Blais replied she found Newbury appealing as it is similar to W. Newbury where she spent the last 19 years. Newbury is of similar size, budget, has a regional school system and infrastructure issues. I can bring the expertise I had in W. Newbury. Of course, moving to a TA role from Finance Director is a career advancement. Keller – during your career have you had any management experience? Blais - yes, when I worked with Giusti & Hingston and in W. Newbury I oversaw a few departments. Keller - what is your vision of what you can bring to Newbury? Blais – I
secured a land bond for open space preservation and $5M debt exclusion for the purchase of properties. Keller – any creative ideas that might work here? Blais – there is no magic bullet for the budget. I worked with the regional school to form a group that meets monthly to discuss problems during the year and made suggestions that saved money for both the town and the school. Keller – how does the Pentucket board work? Blais we start in Sept/Oct to make the schools aware of our shortfalls. I look at the community and work out a proper split and we move forward from there. Bulgaris – there is difference between finance director and town administrator – what do you see your role as in Newbury? Blais – I expect the TA role to be a resource for the BOS by working between the board and departments. As
finance director I worked mainly with the budgets. As TA I would be overseeing daily operations and act as liaison with departments and the public and work with a team on collective bargaining. Bear – I have spoken with Gary Bill (W. Nby. DPW) – tell us about capital financing in W. Newbury for trucks. Blais – A Capital Improvement Committee was in place. In the 90’s I instituted a “traffic equipment replacement schedule”. This is a 20 year plan that outlines the equipment needs of all departments. We ask the voters to fund the stabilization fund each year to implement this Capital Asses Replacement Plan. Maintenance is also part of this plan, she noted. Story asked about her success with grants. She listed the Green Repair grant for renovation of their elementary school, property acquisitions
through Essex County Greenbelt, recreation program grants and grants for the removal of underground storage tanks. She also noted her established relationships with state agencies and legislators. Bulgaris asked, looking to the future and knowing Newbury’s dilemmas, what would you do to improve our situation in the first year? Blais stated she was methodical in her approach and thought Newbury was heading in the right direction by collecting back taxes and asking for support of an override. I would work with the Board to understand and identify Newbury’s goals and put in place some financial management policies to keep the town on target through difficult times. Story asked if she had a financial management plan handbook and Blais said she did and could bring it with her as she wrote it. Keller commented that she looks at the TA role as glue between departments and there is a
significant demand on the TA’s time. What do you expect? Blais replied that she starts her day between 7 and 9:30 each day and some days does not get home until 7:30 or later because of attendance at board meetings. Bear noted that beaches will be new – do you have any DEP history. Blais stated she did not. Keller asked if she had ever been involved in an override in W. Newbury. Blais stated she had been through many and all but one had passed. Story asked her to follow up on debt exclusion vs. override. Blais countered that a debt exclusion is for municipal buildings – things that have a life of 50 yrs or less and a general override is for funding services. Bulgaris asked what Blais expected from the Selectmen. Blais stated she would need guidance on policy direction. Keller
asked what she brought to W. Newbury. Blais noted she had a very technical start in the 90’s, and as it evolved I put together a very strong team and we put policies in place. Story asked what capital projects she had been involved with. Blais listed the 1910 Office Building, construction of the public safety complex, construction of the DPW garage and the Page School renovation project. Keller asked about her expectation for sick/vacation time. Blais stated she currently gets 5 weeks vacation and 12 sick days – the benefit split is 50/50 but she does not use the insurance. Penski inquired about compensation. Blais said she would expect to be at the high end of Newbury’s scale. Story queried, if all three applicants tonight come out equal, given the reports in the news – why should we pick you? Blais noted she felt she was
the right choice and could step into Chuck’s boots. She stated she loved working in W. Newbury and would stay if she could. Misunderstandings are the issue – things were done differently in the 90’s. She presented the Selectmen with a folder of news cuts which she advised showed a better view than the past week. Blais was thanked for coming. At 4:40 p.m. the Board recessed until 6 p.m. on a motion by Keller, seconded by Bulgaris and voted unanimously.
At 6:05 p.m. the Board reconvened and welcomed Pam Nolan from Truro. Story asked her why she thought she would be good fit in Newbury. Nolan replied her experience was with a coastal community, she had a strong financial background, handling collective bargaining and purchasing, and could write contracts. I can hit the ground running, she advised. Keller asked how Nolan envisioned the first 30-60-90 days. Nolan - walking around, getting to know everyone, reading and asking lots of questions – watch, listen and learn for the first thirty days. After that I would start working on finances, bargaining with unions and addressing the warrant for ATM. My first concerns are finance, human resources,
getting to know the public safety departments and establishing contact with them and the schools. Bear noted that Nolan had mentioned “dredging” – in what town and how were you involved? Nolan – Truro, we are just closing the window. Truro has commercial fishing boats in the harbor and if the harbor is not dredged every year they cannot get out. April 1st is our deadline. Marine Fisheries wanted to close the window on 2/15. We went to ACOE and they had no problem with 4/1 so Marine Fisheries was the problem. Political clout was what worked in the end. This year MF is trying to close the window early again and we are working with DEP and CZM. Also in Winthrop I negotiated joining the MWRA. Walker – looking at the positions you have held, what made you seek a
change, without being specific. Nolan – I always get things accomplished. Truro is a wealthy community but a small town with a sophisticated government which requires finesse. Story – explain your situation in Plymouth. Nolan – Plymouth did not anticipate a $5M state aid cut and we had to cut $5M from the budget. It came mostly from the DPW budget. It was a horrible experience but it was done and done well. I concluded I should move on because the cuts were so tough. In Weymouth we built a new police station and in Truro we built a new community center. I am not intimidated by engineers, contractors and architects. Bulgaris – what experience do you have with schools and regional systems? Nolan – No experience with regional schools but I see all school systems as being like
the Vatican. Keller – have you been involved in any override situations? Nolan – yes, in Weymouth. I’ve also dealt with towns that want commercial growth and towns that do not. Story – tell us about Truro. Nolan – Truro has 2500 year round residents and 25,000 summer non-resident tax payers. Real estate is very high priced – the last good lot sold for $7M and the buyers had many problems getting a building permit. There are no street lights, eleven beaches and Truro has the same problem as Newbury with houses falling into the ocean due to erosion. They have a $16M budget, the tax rate if $6.25 per thousand and the assessments are high. We balance the budget and have collected taxes in the 99% rate. We don’t get much state aid so when the cuts came it didn’t
really matter. It is an amazing little town, far away from everything with a very high cost of living. Keller – why are you looking to relocate? Nolan – I am trying to get closer to Boston where I have friends and family. Keller asked about grant writing. Nolan – Yes, I like to write grants but there is not much available at this time. Keller – what do you see as your greatest challenge in Newbury? Nolan – I’ve checked your web site and financial problems seem to be the biggest concern. Walker – what is the depth of staff at your town hall? Nolan – it is a small town hall. I have a good accountant, finance and DPW directors. Keller – how do you feel about night meetings? Nolan – if needed, I’ll be there. I find that
sometimes the TA intimidates committees. Keller – what are you looking for in compensation? Nolan – I now make $100K. I’d be fine with $105K, normal holidays and 4 weeks vacation. Story – how do Truro’s departments compare with Newbury? Nolan – Truro has a harbor committee, harbormaster, shellfish commissioners, etc. much like Newbury. Truro really has no leverage but we are very aggressive with state agencies. Story asked if there were any further questions and there were none. He asked Nolan if she had any questions for them. Nolan asked what the BOS thought her biggest challenge would be and they agreed it would be finances. Nolan was thanked by the board for coming. She asked what the process would be going forward and was advised that they were
waiting for background check to be completed and would make their decisions quickly, perhaps as early as next Tuesday. At 7:55 p.m. the meeting was recessed on a motion by Keller, seconded by Bulgaris and voted unanimously.
At 8:00 p.m. the meeting reconvened and Robert Halpin was welcomed. Story asked why Halpin thought he would be a good fit in Newbury. Halpin thanked the BOS and screening committee for the speed in which they handled interviews. He noted he would bring 33 years of community management and positioning those communities to achieve their goals using common strategies and a collaborative approach. Keller – a commercial tax base for Newbury is being spouted as a fix all – is it important? Halpin – it is an easy revenue stream but while the commercial impact can drop the tax rate, it can also raise it. It takes land and must fit into the town’s zoning. Keller – Newbury has no town
water/sewer so that presents a problem. Halpin – the question is then where would a commercial development fit it. Could water/sewer be pursued for available large tracts of land? Walker – from your resume I gather you have worked on larger projects. Newbury is a small town, how would it fit? Halpin – the prospect of being in Newbury by the water will fit nicely into our life style. I been through debt exclusions, overrides, and plans for interchanges but I am comfortable with a small operation as well. Walker – Newbury needs lots of hands on work. Halpin – it is not unlike Westwood where I was both finance director and town manager. Bulgaris – are you familiar with collective bargaining? Halpin – very familiar – in Pepperrell the police had just organized and we
also had fire, DPW and office and school unions to deal with. North Andover had DPW, police, fire and office unions. Bulgaris – how in depth did you get with negotiations with schools? Halpin - Pepperrell is much like Triton. However, Westwood aligned the town and schools for negotiations and I sat in. We put together a model to project five years ahead, costing out the budget. Walker – any experience with grants? Halpin - I feel I am innovative and creative and can set up goals and write grants. Keller – expectations for compensation and benefits? Halpin – I was at $118K with MVPC but would be comfortable with $115K and 4 weeks vacation. Sick days are not an issue and I am fine with whatever is allowed for employees. I am a roll up your sleeves person, don’t need
a large staff and I am no stranger to night meetings – it is part of the job. The uniqueness of our fire companies was discussed. Walker – you would be coming into a situation due budget shortfalls where our DPW barn is locked out to workers for safety reasons. We need someone to lead us out of this situation and include maintenance of facilities in our budgets. Halpin – my ability to deliver on that is the assumption and it becomes a measurable goal for the next period. I can manage details and have a unique set of talents working with residents. Story – do you have any questions for us? Halpin – back to the screening meeting, importance of assumptions and a plan were stressed. Who makes the final decisions and how do we make the people realize what is needed for the plan to work? Story – it all needs to be justified and
we need to keep the people on target. Halpin – trade offs are important and part of the TA job is to watch our backs. Walker – on a scale of 1-10 where do you fall in pushing the envelope with the regulatory side of things? Halpin – I am a moderate risk taker but not shy on challenges or innovative approaches. I have studied the area and am aware of what is available. Bulgaris – Newbury is made up of three distinct villages spread apart. Halpin – Westford had five different sections but we made it work. Story thanked Halpin for coming and advised they would contact him if there were any further questions. Halpin noted, there have not been many opportunities I’ve applied for. I find Newbury very attractive as we have a daughter living in Eliot, ME and are into sailing and skiing. Relocating is part of our
agenda. Halpin thanked the Selectmen, John Wilkinson and Chief Reilly and praised their professionalism and handling of the interviews.
Story advised that the next step is Mike’s back ground investigation. These will not be public records and everything must be run past Counsel prior to any release. We want to look at the facts and not news articles but people cannot always separate the two. Mike will give us a complete report to review for each candidate. The Board thanked Wilkinson for organizing the interviews in such a speedy manner. The Board was in agreement that each candidate had different strengths and weaknesses. At 8:55 p.m. the meeting was adjourned on a motion by Walker, seconded by Bulgaris and voted unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Sirois, Admin. Asst.
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