The Whitefield Board of Selectmen set Wed., May 4 for an executive session hearing on a fire department personnel issue. Firefighter Josh Mooers is appealing a recent decision of the grievance committee, which is comprised of the chief, deputy chief, the three assistant chiefs and a member chosen by parties involved in the dispute.
At the board’s regular meeting Monday, Mooers also introduced a workplace harassment matter separate from his appeal, saying he had a couple of questions his attorney had asked him about. Chairman Steve McCormick said the board could not hear that issue and advised Mooers, “to file it in writing.”
In other business on Monday, the board discussed with fire chief Tim Pellerin the lease terms with the Kings Mills and Coopers Mills associations recently reviewed by the town attorney. Pellerin requested guidance on a minimum figure for unexpected expenditures, such as engine repairs and fire suit replacement. McCormick suggested a policy stipulating that any expenditure above $2500 should come to the board for approval. Pellerin said he would draw up policy language and present it to the board for review.
Also discussed was the need to set policies regarding the new fire station, which will be ready for occupation sometime next month after paving is completed. Bids of $22,000 and $18,000 have been submitted for that work.
It was agreed the fire department should not be responsible for cleaning up after groups that use the building. Such groups would either pay a fee to employ a cleaning service or do the cleanup themselves. Also, distribution of keys will be limited.
Since late March, selectmen have changed the way they record minutes. Instead of the narrative account Selectman Frank Ober was providing, the board now lists the agenda item and indicates what action, if any, was taken.
“It is difficult to really get the guts of what we were talking about,” Selectman Sue McKeen said during the meeting this week as she glanced over the new format. “A little more detail would be good.” Ober said he preferred to have more detail, but less than what he was providing before.
Defending the shorthand approach, McCormick replied, “Once you vote on something, it’s done. You don’t revisit it. It’s what we say that gets us in trouble. We tend to react, and that’s bad.”
For years, the board has relied on one of its members to be secretary, but “it takes whoever is doing (the minutes) out of the meeting,” McCormick commented.
The board signed four requests for abatement and approved food bank receipts totaling $864.59. The remaining balance until the June 30 fiscal year end is $136.
