SELECTMEN’S MEETING

January 9, 2018

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Ed Walsh made a motion to approve the agenda, Kim Stacey- Horn seconded that motion. Motion approved. The Town Administrator requested the Deputy CEO position be added to the Agenda, Ed Walsh motioned. All in favor, motion carried.

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Ed Walsh made a motion to approve the minutes of the Jan. 2 BOS meeting, Kim Stacey- Horn seconded that. All in favor, motion carried.

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3. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES:

William Williams spoke on behalf of the W/F committee, he stated he believes everything is in place to start

and has no additional requests from the BOS regarding this. He added that the school is finishing up their agenda intro for the 2018-2019 budget and the next 4-5 meetings will be for discussing the budget.

4. OLD BUSINESS:

A. 18-19 Memo's Sent

Memo's have been sent to Department Heads, Social Services and 501c3s stating the Board would like to see a flat line budget or no more than 1.5% increase in their requests. If there are any special circumstances directly affecting the residents of Acton, to please include those in writing and they will be considered. The deadline for the requests is February 2.

B. Personnel Policy Signature

Based on conversation from the January 2 BOS meeting, a few changes to the personnel policy were made. Part-time hourly employees will now be paid for the hours they would have worked in the event of closure due to holiday or weather. The second change was for all employees to be paid if they are excused for reasons beyond their control, they will be paid their regular hourly rate for either a full day or part of the day. The Board back dated their policy to take effect December 25, 2017.

C. Town Clerk/Tax Collector/Registrar of Voters & Town Administrator Job Description

Changes have been made to the job description for the Town Clerk/Tax Collector/Registrar of Voters & Town Administrator, the Board approved the job description for this position.

E. Old Patrol Car

After the discussion about the Old Patrol Car at last weeks meeting, the Town Administrator was unable to get the topic on the agenda for the Shapleigh BOS meeting. She added that she has spoken with the Sherriff's Dept. as well as the Town Administrator for Shapleigh and will be on the agenda for Shapleigh this week. She will update the Board at the next BOS meeting.

F. Use of Town Hall Policy Signature

After making some grammar changes, the Board signed the Use of Town Hall Policy.

G. Fund Balance Policy Signature

The Board reviewed the Fund Balance Policy at the January 2 BOS meeting, the only changes that were made were some minor grammar corrections. The Board approved and signed the Fund Balance Policy.

H. Snow and Ice Class

Ed Walsh stated that he did not support holding the class at this time. He said that in the middle of winter, and on such short notice, it was not when the class should be held, he believes this should be rescheduled. He added that he has taken the class, and believes it has a lot of good information, but that maybe the Town should hold off until the spring. Elise Miller stated that she has taken the class, found it informative and beneficial, however the Board should have talked to the road commissioners first before scheduling it. Ed Walsh made a motion to postpone the class. Kim Stacey-Horn seconded the motion. The Chairman requested a vote, motion failed. The class will be held January 16.

5. NEW BUSINESS:

A. Treasurer Job Description

The Job Description for the Treasurer was read aloud, a few suggestions were made by members of the Board as well as the Treasurer. The final copy will be presented next week.

B. Goat Hill ADA Trail

The Town Administrator spoke with Carl Davis who informed her that the Town did not win the grant for the ADA trail. Mr. Davis stated they will not move forward with the ADA trail at this time, but he plans to reapply next year.

C. Deputy CEO

The Town has done a lot of advertising for the position with not a lot of response. The Town Administrator and the CEO have had conversations about possibly transitioning the Land Use Secretary into the Deputy CEO position, and hiring someone to take her position as secretary. Before doing this, the Town Administrator asked for permission to schedule interviews with the few applicants they received. Once this is completed, the Board will determine how they want to move forward.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT:

Dennis Long wanted clarification on the deadline for budgets; The Town Administrator informed Mr. Long the deadline was February 2. Mr. Long also talked about the Road Committee, they have been discussing different ways to address the road issues, but they are struggling without the help of the Road Commissioners. He stated neither Road Commissioner has attended any of the Road Committee meetings and it's making it hard for them to setting aside funds for repairing bridges and roads, and planning projects and ordinances. Mr. Long asked the Board for some direction on how to handle this. Elise Miller told Mr. Long that they would talk at the class on January 16th to see how they could help.

Karen McManus asked if the public would be allowed to attend the meeting for discussing the Deputy CEO, she expressed she would like to attend. Elise Miller said that the meeting would be held during a workshop time and the doors would be open.

William William asked a question regarding the Treasurer job description. He asked if they were going to state the required organization of accounting practices that the candidate would have. Elise stated that they would get clarification on that and see if it needed to be added. Mr. Williams also asked why people felt like they couldn't talk about certain topics at the meetings or were forbidden from being added to the agenda. Elise said when a topic is done and over, they don't need to bring it back up. There is no need to be talking about topics that are done, and continue to bring them up. Elise mentioned that they don't need to offer a public comment time, but they do. Mr. Williams suggested making an ethics policy for both people in the audience as well as the Board. The Town Administrator explained that people can talk about anything with the Board so long as it does not involve an employee.

Greg Vermette stated that sometimes there are more things to be brought up than can fit into 3 minutes. Mr. Vermette wanted to discuss what he has found out from researching Code Enforcement Officers in other towns, Elise told him that they are working on getting the CEO help and they are not interested in hearing how other towns handle their CEO. Mr. Vermette asked if the Town really needed a Deputy CEO, Elise said yes. Ed Walsh added, they are doing what needs to be done by adding a new person or shifting people to different positions and that they are working on things.

7. ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

01/11/18 - Selectman Hours 7:00-8:00pm

01/16/18 - 2005 Ford Ambulance Bid Due

01/18/18 - Selectman Hours 7:00-8:00pm

 

8. UPCOMING MEETINGS:

01/12/2018 Marijuana Committee 5pm

01/16/2018 BOS 5pm

01/18/2018 Planning Brd 7pm

01/23/2018 BOS 5pm

01/30/2018 BOS 5pm

9. MEMBERS PRESENT: Kim Stacey-Horn, Elise Miller, Ed Walsh

10. OTHERS PRESENT: Michelle Rumney, Paul Poyant, Dennis Long, Joe Ruma, William Williams, Karen McManus, Greg Vermette, Joyce Bakski, Jennifer Roux, Eric Dewalga