The Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Board of Directors suspended station manager Shawn Dinsmore without pay at an unannounced meeting Dec. 12.
Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Chairman Chester Rice confirmed the decision to suspend Dinsmore was made at an emergency meeting Dec. 12 in South Bristol (see “Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station in turmoil” in this edition).
Maine law requires any public body, including the Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Board of Directors, to notify “local representatives of the media” of an emergency meeting “by the same or faster means used to notify the members of the agency conducting the public proceeding.”
The Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station Board of Directors, which comprises the same membership as the Bristol and South Bristol boards of selectmen, did not notify The Lincoln County News of the meeting.
Rice acknowledged the board’s failure to notify the media, saying there were “a lot of issues that morning” and “probably someone forgot.”
The Bristol and South Bristol selectmen, at separate meetings on Dec. 14 and 15, both attended by The Lincoln County News, did not notify the press or the public of the meeting. The Lincoln County News only became aware of the meeting after receiving an anonymous tip and confirming the tip with Bristol Town Administrator Kristine Poland.
Dinsmore couldn’t be reached for comment.
