Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting date:
Monday, February 23, 2009
Board of Selectmen Present: Curtis Plante
February 23, 2009 Stanley Wysocki
Kenneth F. Troup
The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 5:30 p.m.
Don Lowe, newly hired Town Administrator who will officially start on March 2, 2009 was present along with Pamela Powell, Town Clerk
BOARD OF HEALTH VACANCIES
The Board of Selectmen interviewed 5 candidates on February 19, 2009 to fill the two vacancies on the Board of Health. The Board received comments from former Board of Health member Mark Sprague regarding his thoughts after listening to the interviews of the various candidates.
The Board discussed the interviews and voted to make the following appointments:
On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Chris Slade to the Board of Health. (Plante – yes, Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes)
On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Laura Andrews to the Board of Health. (Plante – yes, Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes)
The Board of Selectmen left it up to the new members to determine who will be nominated for the one year and three year terms at Caucus.
DPW
Mr. Plante reported that as a result of his email exchange with the DPW requesting that the “storm start time” on the February 19, 2009 storm report be revised, and a follow up conversation with Ms. O’Toole, Administrative Assistant, Mr. Brown has requested that any matters related to the DPW be discussed with Mr. Brown and not Ms. O’Toole. Mr. Plante asked that Mr. Brown forward this request to the Board of Selectmen in writing.
Mr. Plante also expressed his concern with the number of accidents involving the DPW trucks.
TAX COLLECTOR POSITION
Ms. Day and Ms. Powell suggested that it was time to have a discussion between the Board of Selectmen and the Tax Collector regarding the plans related to the transition of the Tax Collector position going from elected to appointed. They also stated that it was important to educate the voters on this transition. Ms. Powell agreed to find out how much of an explanation can be included with the question on the ballot.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Mr. Plante stated that he had heard a couple of comments passed about it being a conflict of interest for him to be acting as a subcontractor to the general contractor for the public safety center project while serving on the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Plante stated that the State Ethics Commission had confirmed that this was not a conflict of interest and asked the other Board members if they felt this was something he should clear up with an interview that could be published in the paper. Mr. Troup suggested a Letter to the Editor would be more appropriate.
On a motion made by Troup and second by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted: Linda L. Day