The Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Board of Directors met Dec. 27 as it addresses issues at the facility and prepares to hire a manager.
The board temporarily suspended two employees without pay, including the former manager, earlier this month. The Dec. 27 meeting, at the Bristol town office, marks the third in three weeks for the body, which typically meets on a quarterly basis.
The meeting focused on changes to the manager’s job description, the facility’s employee manual and personnel policy and its budget.
Chairman Chester Rice reported an estimated $124,000 surplus after reviewing financial records.
The size of the surplus surprised board members. “That’s about double what we’ve ever seen for a carry-over,” Chad Hanna, the chairman of the Bristol Board of Selectmen, said.
An annual audit of the facility will start Tues., Jan. 3.
During discussion of the personnel policy, the directors exchanged ideas for an alcohol and drug policy.
“We need the ability to act upon suspicion of drug and alcohol use,” Ken Lincoln, the chairman of the South Bristol Board of Selectmen, said.
The suspension of the two employees followed a recent investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, which charged one of the suspended employees with the civil offense of possession of less than 1.25 ounces of marijuana.
The directors have declined to provide a reason for the suspensions and the apparent demotion of the former manager.
At the meeting, the board weighed the possibility of instituting a drug-testing policy and whether to apply the policy to all municipal employees or only transfer station workers.
The board and Bristol Town Administrator Kristine Poland agreed to research the matter.
The board also discussed use of the transfer station scale by local companies. They talked about imposing a fee for scale use unrelated to transfer station business and agreed to ask station staff to record how often companies and individuals use the scale for such purposes.
At the beginning of the meeting, the board met for 15 minutes in executive (private) session to discuss a personnel matter. It did not take action following the session.
The next meeting of the Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Board of Directors is Mon., Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the South Bristol town office.