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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - BoS - 02/17/2011 Minutes—Board of Selectmen February 17, 2011 Selectmen Present: Karen Quigley, Chairman Edwin G. Carr Frederick Koed Paul Carlson Leland H.Jenkins Advisory Committee Samuel Wakeman, Chairman Peter Pescatore Chartis Tebbetts Thomas Reardon Christopher Blackburn Nan Roth Others Present: John Beck, Chairman, Sewer Commission Wayne Sawchuck, Sewer Commission Chris Seebeck, Chairman, Water Commision Jennifer Brennan Oram, Selectmen's Clerk Chairman Karen Quigley called the meeting to order at 7:OOPM. Chairman Quigley stated that the purpose of this discussion is to not re-hash the details of the audit report as there has been enough time to submit comments to the appropriate people. In the comments there have been a number of references to the failures in the Financial Department. Chairman Quigley stated that since day two, Interim Town Manager Steve Lombard has been addressing them both with the Interim Finance Director, Eric Kinsherf and now newly hired Finance Director John Stanbrook. Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Samuel Wakeman stated that the Advisory Committee has not discussed this at length, but it is clear that the Town has come through a disaster area. He does not want to point fingers but stated that the responsibility is on all who were involved. Not enough financial information was given and although the Advisory Committee would request the financial information, they did not demand it. Mr. Wakeman stated that he had read both the Melanson Heath report as well as the MMA report. A couple of items stood out to him, but one item was how decentralized the Town was set up and the departments were doing their own things. He stated that it would seem to him that it would be very wise to have a Town Engineer/Technical Person to oversee the DPW, Water and Sewer. Presently they [Water and Sewer] have contracted so many things out that they loose control. Advisory Member Chartis Tebbetts stated that she too had read both reports. She has lived in Town since 1968 and remembers when the Water and Sewer Commissions used to be all in one. At some point it was decided to separate them and have two elected boards. She feels that it's now time again to reassess the function of the two commissions. She stated that she would support the idea of a combined Board that is not elected. She stated that she agreed with Mr. Wakeman and added that the Town should identify what resources it does not have and needs and what could been done to have prevented what happened. Advisory Member Thomas Reardon said that the Town has gone through various audits and that it seems to him they need to embrace the larger issue about how well the Town Manager and Finance Selectmen—2.17.11-JBO 1 Minutes—Board of Selectmen February 17, 2011 Director elements functioned. He wonders if it is also appropriate to look at a larger governance issue or would it end up just being a patchwork fix when more is needed. Advisory Member Peter Pescatore stated that he looks at all three, Sewer, Water and DPW, and he thinks that there should be a combined Board with the possibility of one top person reporting to the Town Manager. This would reduce the dependence on contracted people and there would be more on —site management. He added that obviously the Town also needs to have a functional finance department within the Town. Advisory Member Christopher Blackburn stated that he agreed with Mr. Reardon's opinion that maybe it needs to be looked at if more people need to be tasked within the departments. Advisory Member Nan Roth said that they should wait until the new Town Manager is hired and give it a year to see how it goes and give the new people a shot. Chairman Quigley stated that she thinks a change needs to be made and not because of figures and failings, but because she thinks the Town has grown and we need to look at a lot of issues. She stated that most municipalities are organizing their utilities this way and Cohasset would not be the first one doing so. The recommendations that were made in the 2004 MMA report are nearly identical to the Melanson/Heath report and the recommendations also reflect what is going on in other municipalities. She stated that as the Liaison to the Sewer Commission, she has attended many of those meetings and she has also attended a small amount of Water Commission meetings. She stated that there has been a long standing mentality, long before this Board,that because the Town has elected officials and enterprise funds that they are separate from the Town and perhaps because of this there was not as much oversight. She added that if they are going to restructure,they should look at the DPW and the facilities and see how that works first. She stated that the Board of Selectmen should be the last people involved in running the utilities and that they should be moving toward having someone in place that has the skill sets to run the day to day, to review the budgets and to work closely with the Town Manager. Selectman Edwin Carr stated that he had been thinking about this issue quite a bit and that he likes having two separate Boards. He leans towards not making drastic changes too quickly, but does feel that putting the right financial controls in place is critical. He stated that he agrees with Ms. Roth that they should try it for a while and see what happens and that Mr. Lombard is looking at the financial controls. He feels this is the direction we need to go in and that we run the Town well and this is the direction he would lead. Selectman Paul Carlson stated that he too had read the reports. He stated that what is missing from the Melanson/Heath report is why the Town needs to change its governance. He said that the Sewer Commission came out of this pretty smoothly which he feels rebuts the change suggestions. Selectman Carlson stated that he agrees with Ms. Roth that they have new leadership in place and some coming in at the operating level. He thinks the Boards have worked well until the last couple of years and suggests they wait and set a review date on how things are progressing before making a major change in Town Governance which could result in uncertain consequences. Selectman Leland Jenkins stated that he did not feel this was a major change. He said that he is a Civil Engineer and that this is what they do,they run DPW, Sewer and Water. He said the Town needs someone at the level to run these departments on a day to day basis and that most towns have this type Selectmen—2.17.11-JBO 2 Minutes—Board of Selectmen February 17, 2011 of position. He said that he does not want to look back and that he is not looking at it [these proposed changes] as repairing a fiasco. He looks at it as moving forward. Selectman Jenkins stated that he too has read the reports and it's time to come into the 21't Century. Selectman Frederick Koed stated that he has over twenty four years of experience and that he was once an elected Water Commissioner. He feels that he has some perspective and that he feels that they are taking away the voice of the people [by not having elected Commissioners]. He takes this issue very seriously. He also questions a CPA's qualifications for making suggestions to change the governance. Selectman Koed stated that to him,the power of the purse is in Town Hall and when he looks at everything that has happened over the past two years, somewhere between the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager and the Finance Director,there was a breakdown in Communication; the governance was just shoved in. Selectman Koed stated that he has attended many Water and Sewer Commission meetings over the years, as well as over a 100 Water Meetings as a Commissioner. The Water Meetings are long and technical and to add Sewer in would make them even longer. What he looks says is not in the Melanson/Heath report is where it went from the Town not putting any money in to the Water Department to let's fix everything. He feels if they had not deviated from regular municipal financing to the large amount of notes they are now carrying there would not be the debt and these large financial issues. He added that he agreed with Mr. Wakeman, and that agrees with Chairman Quigley that the Town lacks a key employee and he feels there should be an elected Commissions. Chairman Quigley stated that speaking for herself; she does not think that it is the intention to take away the voice of the people. She feels strongly that the people still have a voice through Town Meeting. She feels it is very difficult to get people to run for office due to the time commitment and the same is true for appointed positions, but that she is still feels that they need to go to an appointed Water and Sewer Board. Sewer Commissioner Wayne Sawchuck reviewed his history on various committees in Town and how he got drawn in to running and becoming a Commissioner. He stated that he feels his Commision is running well, but that it does make sense to possibly hire a Town Engineer to oversee projects and oversee how the money is spent. He is not in favor of combining water and sewer as he does not think it makes sense and would be like mixing oil and vinegar. He does not think it makes sense to take something that is working great and mix it with something that is broken. He does not feel they should spend time on trying to fix something that is not broken [Sewer], but he does support a Town Engineer. John Beck, Chairman of the Sewer Commission stated that he felt that the audit missed the mark but that it did uncover a lot of problems that need to be dealt with. He stated that it was not structure but performance. He stated that the Commission had many issues getting information and guidance from the Finance Department. There was a lack of guidance and some of the guidance they were given was illegal. He asked what could be done to address these issues? He said that some steps have already been taken with the hiring of the new Finance Director. The next would be hiring a new Town Manager and determining what their leadership role would be. The previous Town Manager had oversight but it seldom happened. He stated that getting the right people in the right place will resolve these issues over time. As for the past,the oversight failed across the Board. After further review of the past, Mr. Beck stated that Cohasset is too small for an increased bureaucracy and he feels it would not streamline things. He said that performance is the issue. Chris Seebeck, Chairman of the Water Commission stated that he appreciated everyone's comments. He said that he became a member of the Commission as an angry citizen. He stated that he felt that Selectmen—2.17.11-JBO 3 Minutes—Board of Selectmen February 17, 2011 they are trying to resolve yesterday's issues today. He said that it has been discussed here this evening and was well outlined in the report what went on in the Finance Department. What was really lacking was a contract manager to address the day to day regarding the contracts. In addition,the Water Commission was given recommendations from the Finance Department and they are still addressing those issues and are making progress. He said that today they are trying to create a budget that addresses the needs today. He does not agree to a need for an engineer. Mr. Seebeck stated that the Commissions' role is to look over the plant and their contract. He does however agree with Selectman Jenkins that the efficiencies need to be looked at. He does not feel that the Commission should be appointed and stated that they have will have a better understanding of what they need in a few years. Water Commissioner Glenn Pratt stated that a lot of what has been said is right on. He stated that both of the elected Commissions have been faced with all of this and that fifty five million in capital projects is a huge number. He feels it really needs to remain as two commissions and to have them appointed and be put in an advisory capacity takes away their authority. He stated that Mr. Reardon was right and they cannot be making patchwork fixes. He said that they are about 6 months away from hiring a Town Manager. People need to work together now and there needs to be cooperation. Selectman Jenkins asked if Mr. Pratt was aware of any other Towns that had similar organizational structures as the one being discussed. Mr. Pratt stated that he is not opposed to a Town Engineer,that he feels they have one now and that it would be a waste not to work that way. Mary Snow of North Main Street stated that she had listened to everyone and felt that everyone had great ideas. She asked why not put these questions to the residents? Chairman Quigley stated that she thought Ms. Snow had a good idea. Mr. Wakeman stated that the new Town Manager may come from a town that has gone through this and could be a big help. Selectman Jenkins suggested that they talk to other Towns to see how they function. Mr. Pescatore agreed that would be a good idea. Mr. Wakeman stated that he is sure this will be discussed further and that this is a lot to digest, but that he did make a list of towns and perhaps they can start working on this. Ms.Tebbetts asked if there would be a follow up meeting or if there was a timeline or is this something they are going to look at a year out. Chairman Quigley stated that she could not answer and that this was the first discussion for each for the Boards. She said there is nothing in place or a timeline but that this was the report and the recommendation they asked for so. She thought it made sense to have this open discussion for transparency. Mr. Wakeman stated that the 15th was the last date for comments to the Melanson/Heath Audit. He stated that the auditor has all of the comments and the report will be finalized. Chairman Quigley stated that she had spoken to the auditor and said that she believed she gave the contact information to Selectman Koed. She stated that the comments have to end and it is the auditors feeling that the Board had asked for a recommendation and that is what has been provided. Selectmen—2.17.11-JBO 4 Minutes—Board of Selectmen February 17, 2011 Selectmen Jenkins moved to adjourn the meeting. Selectmen Carr seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Meeting adjourned at 8:41PM. Respectfully submitted, Karen Quigley Chairman Documents: 2004 MMA Report Letter of Response from former Water Commissioner,John McNabb Melanson/Heath Draft Audit Report Selectmen—2.17.11-JBO 5