===OCR macOS Vision===
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Board of selectmen present: Jamie loale, Chairman, Damon Mcquala, Vice Chairman,
Phyllis Luck, Clerk; Katey Adams, Member
Others present: Town Manager Heather Lemieux
Mr. Toale opened the meeting at 6:00 PM and asked for a Motion To enter into Executive
Session pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30 § 21, Reason #6, to consider the purchase, exchange,
taking, lease, or value of real property if such discussion may have a detrimental effect on
the negotiating position of the governmental body (Northfield Road, Howard Street, New
West Townsend Road) and to reenter Open Session immediately afterwards.
Mr. MeQuaid made the motion and Ms. Luck seconded it.
Vote: Ms. Luck- aye, Mr. McQuaid-aye, Mr. Toale-aye
************** EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES ARE SEPARATE****************
The meeting commenced at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chairman Toale announced in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law,
please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast over the Lunenburg Public
Access channel.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Ms. Adams thanked Mr. Toale for his service as Selectman. She acknowledged his time and
dedication even though they did not always agree on issues.
Ms. Luck stated it is a great honor to serve as a Selectman and she takes this responsibility
seriously. The Town Charter states the administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal
affairs of the town shall be vested in an executive branch headed by a Board of Selectmen. The
executive powers of the town shall be vested in the Selectboard which shall be deemed to be the
chief executive office of the town and shall have all of the executive powers possible for a Board
of Selectmen to have and exercise. It is not only our right but our responsibility to provide input
on matters of substance to the town. The Town Manager reports to the Board of Selectmen
(BOS). The BOS hires the Town Manager and is charged with reviewing her annually. It is a
difficult task and it is our responsibility to assess what the Town Manager is doing well and to
point out where there is opportunity for growth. She supports the Town Manager daily through
her actions. She is the representative to the Montachusett Joint Transportation Committee. She
knows Lunenburg is a small town with a tight budget and depends on its volunteers to help. Due
to Ms. Luck attending these meetings, this is one less monthly meeting the Town Manager needs
to attend. Lunenburg is a member of the Central Mass Regional Stormwater Coalition. If she can
help the town and Town Manager by attending these meetings, she is happy to support. No other
towns in either of these groups have BOS members serving on them. She supports the Town
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evaluation. She feels the Town Manager's self-evaluation should not be inserted into the final
BOS consensus document. She will ask for a discussion on this during the agenda item.
Mr. McQuaid thanked Mr. Toale for his service and stated he will miss having him sitting next to
him.
Ms. Lemieux thanked Mr. Toale for serving the town for the last six years, as a Selectman, as a
member of the Building Reuse Committee, Capital Planning Committee, Charter Review
Committee, Finance Committee Appointing Committee, Cable Advisory Committee and Town
Manager Screening Committee. You were one of the first people I met in Lunenburg in 2016
when I interviewed for the Town Manager position. Since then I have seen firsthand how
Lunenburg has benefitted from your service to the town. Your prior work experience in property
management has guided the idea that we cannot continue being in a status quo situation with our
buildings. As Chairman it can be difficult to run a meeting and be a participant in thoughtful
discussion simultaneously, but you have successfully done both. It has been my privilege to work
with you for the last two and a half years and I will truly miss working with you.
Tom Alonzo, 284 Lancaster Avenue, addressing Mr. Toale, stated six years ago before you ran
for office, I did not know who you were. Since then I have had the pleasure of voting for you,
working with you, serving as a BOS member with you for four years, and seeing firsthand the
service that you gave to the town. We did not always agree, but I never doubted for one moment
that you had the best interest of the town. Your energy was almost limitless given the list of
committees you were on. I served with you on many of them; I remember the lonely days of the
volunteer booth that we shared trying to corral people into working. Hopefully we can get you to
continue to help us with that. It was great working with you. He commended him for his
dedication and integrity and added it will be sad to see you go.
Secondly, he wanted to thank the Lunenburg Library and Helen Obermeyer-Simmons for the
excellent presentation on the Lane Collection last Sunday. He was not prepared for the impact
and caliber of the artists' work that was represented, many of whom came to spend time here.
Lastly, he reminded all that Saturday is Election Day. He encouraged everyone to vote.
Paul Luria, 63 Pratt Street, expressed concern about rocks in the road at Pleasant Street and
Massachusetts Avenue. Every time there is a heavy rain, you can clearly see where they are
coming from and I have spoken to DPW. They have gone out and cleaned it up at the taxpayers'
expense. It is dangerous, particularly to motorcycles and bicycles. Mr. Toale thanked him for the
input and stated they would look into it.
Sue Doherty, Council on Aging Director, thanked Mr. Toale for being a great role model and
taking over the Memorial Day ceremonies which are getting better every year. You came to our
meetings at the COA and we thank you and wish you the best of luck going forward.
Jane Rabbitt, 314 Townsend Harbor Road, COA member, thanked him for his service and stated
they enjoyed having him there. She was also here on behalf of the Action Team to make
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Douallan
expressed Representative's Benson's regrets at not being able to attend tonight and stated she
appreciates everything Mr. Toale has done for the Town of Lunenburg. Applause resounded
through the meeting room. Ms. Lemieux presented a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Toale.
Mr. Toale thanked everyone for their well wishes.
Entertainment License for Lunenburg Arts Festival- Cultural Council-June 8/Raindate
June 9
Cultural Council member Laura Bizozoski, 21 Francis Avenue, presented for the June 8 request.
She requested the Board waive the license fees since it is a town committee event. It begins at
10:00 a.m. and runs until 3:00 p.m. Setup will begin at 8:00 a.m. and breakdown will be done by
4:30 p.m. Our rain date is June 9, so we are also applying for the Sunday Entertainment licenses
as well. We have talked to DPW about blocking off Memorial Drive. We will be using the TC
Passios Building restrooms and have parking at the Middle/High School. We have changed the
booth setup configuration and will have more vendors this year. We also have two food trucks.
We have two stages this year, while one is setting up, the other one will be in use.
Motion: D. MeQuaid
2™°: P. Luck
To approve the entertainment license for the Lunenburg Arts Festival from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. on June 8 with a rain date of June 9
Discussion: Ms. Adams suggested allowing for the set up and breakdown times.
Mr. MeQuaid amended his motion to allow for setup/breakdown and to waive the license
fees. Ms. Luck seconded the amendment.
Vote: All in Favor
Quarterly Financial Report - Finance Director Karen Brochu
Ms. Brochu stated this is the report for the end of the third quarter of the fiscal year, ending
March 31st
Revenues
Total collections to date are $31,202,799.72, or 76.76% of FY 19 estimates
through 3/31/19.
• Local Receipts: We have collected $2,438,144.46 or 81% ot
the FY19 Local Receipt estimates. There are several
estimates that are running over target at this time including
Fees (83.86%), Departmental Revenue
- Other (88.66%), Other Excise/Meals Tax (79.48%), Motor
Vehicle Excise (88.53%) and Investment Income (109.78%).
There are a few categories that are running below target at
this time, including Fines & Forfeits (54.78%) and
Departmental Revenues - School (55.71%).
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expenditures as of 3/31/19. Of note on the expenditures side is the
following:
•
Elections - As of 3/31/19 this account shows an overage of
$2,053.44. However, since that time, funds were received
from the state and that deficit has been eliminated.
• Snow Removal - As of 3/31/19 there is a deficit in this
account in the amount of $53,777.44. There will be a budget
adjustment article at the Annual Town Meeting to eliminate
this deficit.
•
Vehicle Mtc. - Fire - As you are aware, due to costly repairs
to Engine 4, there is an insufficient amount in this
appropriation to cover expenditures through year-end. There
will be an adjustment to this budget at the upcoming Town
Meeting.
All other expenditures are at or near where they should be at this point in
the fiscal year. Ms. Brochu anticipated at the end of the fiscal year we
will have had another successful year and be able to cover everything
and have free cash somewhat similar to what was certified last year.
The Board thanked Ms. Brochu.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Town Manager Performance Review and Announcement of Town Manager
Annual Increase
Mr. Toale stated the Board reviewed a draft composite at their last meeting and invited the Board
members to comment.
Ms. Luck was surprised that two-thirds of the composite consensus document consists of the
Town Manager's self-evaluation and requested those parts be removed from it. Mr.
McQuaid noted a lot of this is going over the goals which Town Manager's narrative
accurately highlights and gives a factual statement of where we are; so it could be reworded
but it is still going to say the same thing. It is something you can't really dispute. Ms. Luck
believed it was inappropriate for the Town Manager's self-evaluation to be embedded in the
BOS composite for rating the Town Manager.
Mr. Toale stated what he tried to do was for each of the goals and each of the reactions to
the ten characteristics he included factual statements based on what the Town Manager
reported in her self-evaluation. If we disagreed that those factual things happened, I think
that is basis for a good discussion right now. If you look at the composite the objective was
to state the accomplishments as fact and then put in quotes and comments by the Board
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It does seem like it would be well suited to insert the input of the four of us than the input of
the Town Manager and her self-evaluating herself.
Ms. Luck disagreed with the procedure and the substance in some cases. It's inappropriate
and should not be included.
Mr. Toale asked do they not represent the activities that were accomplished. Ms. Luck stated
in many parts they do but...do you want to go through it line by line? Mr. Toale stated if
you have objections, yes I do.
Ms. Luck referred to Goal #1: Increase Public Outreach and Improve Public Relations: here is
one accomplishment: "The Charter/Bylaws and Important Documents buttons were moved to the top of
the main page and the homepage middle buttons were changed to Town Calendar and Town Meetings &
Town Finances."
Ms. Luck asked does that accomplishment raise to the level of being included in Exceeds
Expectations work. Mr. McQuaid stated it shows she is constantly being analytical of what's
being put out there; she responded to feedback and corrected it. Mr. Toale defending the process,
stated, I think what it says is what the Town Manager did and it gives all four of us the
opportunity to say whether that activity represents a goal that was completed, in progress or not
undertaken. Discussion ensued about the meaning of the the three categories terms of
Complete, In Progress, Not Undertaken.
Ms. Luck felt this document was not a consensus. Mr. Toale pointed out we agreed last week it is
not a consensus. We don't have a consensus. What we agreed was that everybody's input was
there. If you want to say I left something out and you want it in there, that's fine. If you want
something taken out that should not be there, that's fine. I believe we factually talked about what
was accomplished and then I included anything you put on your input form to describe what was
accomplished. Mr. Toale stated there is some redundancy in this and future boards may want to
amend the form due to the fact that there is a lot of repetition due to overlapping. We say the
same thing several different ways. I do believe my objective was to articulate what was
accomplished and then include the four members' opinions on how that reflects against their
expectations. If we don't get to a consensus on the four opinions being all in one direction, so be
it. Ms. Luck suggested rewording the way on Individual Characteristics, the Board was split with
two members stating exceeds expectations and two stating meets expectations. Can't you just say
Board members felt it was somewhere between exceeds and meets expectations? Mr. Toale
stated style wise, I'm sure I could. I feel I was criticized for not having everybody's input last
time and thought the best way was to state two said this and two said that.
Ms. Adams stated she preferred the numeric version where you itemized everything by a
number, 22 pages versus something that calculates at 80%. In the future maybe we could
combine a portion of the two.
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burden to the town for health insurance costs and how she worked to reduce those costs for the
town. I also talked about the contamination in the recycling program and applauded her for
trying to get that under control. There were four positive things I noted that weren't included and
one less positive thing that I said was included.
Motion: P. Luck
2nd: K. Adams
That the Town Manager's self-evaluation be removed from this document so that it is a
consensus
Ms. Luck stated she would like to change the motion to say that the Town Manager's self-
evaluation remain included in the document. Ms. Adams seconded the motion.
Discussion about the wording of the vote ensued. Ms. Luck suggested taking all four evaluations
and have town counsel come up with a composite. Ms. Adams stated the most clear thing I can
say is that we are not at consensus. Not about the topic, but the process, if we can compromise
and discuss it and take people's interpretations seriously we can have a product. The fact that
two thirds is based on self-evaluation from the employee is not the intent of a composite from the
Board. Mr. Toale stated the two-thirds taken from the employees is the activities that were
accomplished. It is not an assessment of whether something was a good or bad thing or done well
or not. Mr. Toale stated maybe the word that is hanging us up is consensus. What it needs to be
is an accurate representation of what each of us contributed. It doesn't have to agree. Ms. Luck
stated under procedure it reads, this document represents composite ratings from individual
reviews and represents a consensus overview document. Mr. Toale stated that was the intent and
the purpose when we started. It didn't come out that way because on several items it was two
members to two members.
Mr. McQuaid stated he was trying to comprehend the amount of work Mr. Toale put into this. I
know leading up to this, Mrs. Luck, you were critical about your voice not being heard last year.
I think the way he crafted this made sure that your voice could be heard throughout this
document. If it were truly blended together in a consensus document, 1 know one of us would
feel that they weren't heard.
Mr. Toale stated there were many discussions over the years to do away trom a 100% numerical
process which the new Board may revisit in the future. Does anyone disagree with the numeric
page and if that were included as part of this document, would that address your concerns?
Ms. Luck stated she did not disagree with the numeric part, but it did not address her concerns.
She requested the Town Manager self-evaluation parts be removed. They don't belong. Mr.
Toale pointed out they are a statement of what activities occurred
Ms. Adams noted some typographical errors. Page 7, last paragraph, first line, She is capitalized
and should not be. Page 11, second to last paragraph, after the words conveyance of town land,
needs a period. Page 13 has a rogue "10" in the one of the sentences 2/3 of the way down. Page
15, second line needs quotation marks at the beginning of it.
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it was unsolicited. Ms. Adams stated it puts us at a disadvantage to evaluate something we
technically can't evaluate. Mr. Toale stated consider that my input. Mr. McQuaid stated when he
had his individual meeting with Ms. Lemieux we talked about some of these categories where I
don't have day to day insight, so I asked for examples she could explain to me how she
accomplished these goals.
Ms. Luck suggested taking the Town Manager's self-evaluation from the document and putting
in in the front part and noting it is background information. More discussion ensued about the
composite and what it should include.
Vote: 2 Nay, 2 Abstain Motion tails.
Motion: K. Adams
2nd: P. Luck
To include the numerical compilation of the Town Manager evaluation with the tabulation
of 80% as part of the review document
Discussion: Mr. Toale stated for discussion purposes there is a historical reason why I didn't
want to do that; people who have sat on this Board for awhile know the discussion we had and
the agreements we made. If it is going to help this process, then I would vote in the affirmative to
that motion. Mr. McQuaid remembering the past conversations why it is not in there, stated I
think it is fine to have as a supplement. I think the words are more important than the tabulated
rating.
Ms. Lemieux stated at this point I would agree to that, but I don't think it follows the process that
was outlined from the beginning of the document that is set forth contractually. The performance
evaluation tool is agreed on at the beginning of the year and this is the last night that this
document needs to be done contractually, She requested contractually that the Board provide her
with a composite document before the annual election.
Ms. Adams withdrew her motion and Ms. Luck withdrew her second. Ms. Adams asked if
the information could be acknowledged in the final document. Further discussion ensued about
meeting the contractual agreement.
Motion: K. Adams
2^°: P. Luck
To include the numerical compilation of the Town Manager evaluation with the tabulation
of 80% as part of the composite document
Discussion: Ms. Luck stated she would not include it if the Town Manager did not want it there,
but she maintained the TM self-evaluation needed to be removed from the composite.
Discussion ensued again about the process.
Vote: All in Favor
Ms. Luck asked if they could identity pieces of the document that are part of the Town
Manager's self-evaluation, could they be italicized? Mr. McQuaid stated that is where we
disagree. I agree with what it is saying and it is part of my evaluation.
Mr. Toale asked if there was anything in there that was not included or misrepresented. Ms. Luck
said yes. Ms. Adams stated for #6 Supervisory Oversight and Direction; this is hard for us to
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satand desere items or ko identity what the BOS input is and what is taken from the Town
Motion: K. Adams
2": P. Luck
That the Board signs and submits to the Town Manager the composite with sources
identified that did not come from the four members evaluations
Discussion: Mr. McQuaid asked who is going to do that? Ms. Luck stated it is the first paragraph
in most of the items and in one case it is the last paragraph. Mr. Toale stated unless you have
another meeting, you will not have the ability to vote on the changes. Ms. Luck stated we could
do it at the May 21 meeting. Ms. Lemieux reminded that contractually it has to be done by the
Town election (May 18).
Ms. Luck asked everyone to open the Town Manager's self-evaluation for comparison. Mr.
Toale stated if there is a statement that the Town Manager wrote such as I met with my staff and
I as the person who put the consolidation together wrote, The Town Manager met with her
statf... Ms. Luck stated you shouldn't have done that, just identify the source and italicize what
came from Ms. Lemieux. Mr. Toale noted she happened to write something and I agreed with it
and it became my input. Mr. Toale stated he would be willing to make a statement that we would
jointly compose that says the source for many of the activities came from a document prepared
by the Town Manager. To call it a self-evaluation; the part of the document where she evaluated
herself was not put in there at all. The only thing that was put in there was a list of activities.
I may have missed a sentence or two where she was supporting the activity; let's take that out.
I am not going to italicize 23 pages and say she wrote it because she didn't, I did. The discussion
went back and forth with both views not changing. Vote: 2 in favor, 2 opposed The motion
fails.
Ms. Adams stated they were not going to come a compromise and noted the late hour of the
evening. Mr. McQuaid stated he had a problem with the wording. He suggested adding a note at
the top of the page stating," Note: Some statements of activities performed by the Town Manager
within this document came from a document prepared by the Town Manager and will be
italicized." The Board proceeded to review the document and amend it. The noted statement will
go on page seven under Part II, Performance Standards and Core Responsibilities. The Board
will sign it in the office once amended and agreed.
Motion: D. McQuaid
To endorse the amended Town Manager performance evaluation with the statement and
italicized sections
2nd: P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
The Board signed the amended version and will sign a clean copy once printed. Mr. Toale
announced as a result of the performance review that we already discussed, the new salary for
Ms. Lemieux will be $129,765.00.
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walkability and rarking stay
The public meeting to perform a walk through of the two focus areas (Whalom and
Lunenburg Center) will be Saturday, June IS at 1:00 p.m. with a raindate of Monday,
June 3rd at 5:00 p.m. MRPC Regional Planner Sheri Bean will lead the discussion and
walk through the two focus areas the day of the meeting. Everyone attending should meet
at Town Hall.
Green Communities Update and MOU for Green Communities Planning Assistance Grant
Last week I met with Kelly Brown from the Department of Energy and Environmental
Resources, Karen Chapman from Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, and the
contractor that has worked on all the town energy projects about the completion of the two
remaining projects and the closeout process for the competitive grant the Town received totaling
approximately $198,000. We expect to complete both remaining projects this month, the State
will come do an inspection of all the projects and a final report will be issued
During this meeting, we also discussed the next round of grant funding and possible projects the
Town could apply. One project we discussed was if the Town purchased the street lights at the
next Town Meeting, we would be eligible to receive the costs to convert those lights to LED in
our next competitive grant submission.
In order to assist the Town in preparing an application for the next competitive round, I am
requesting the Selectmen authorize me to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to have MRPC
apply for the Regional Energy Planning Assistance Grant that would pay for the associated costs
for MRPC to complete and submit the Town's next Competitive Grant application. This grant
application is due May 24th.
Motion: D. McQuaid
2nd: P. Luck
To authorize Town Manager to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to have MRPC
apply for the Regional Assistance Grant
Vote: All in Favor
Education and Enforcement Coordinator Grant
At the MassToss meeting I attended last week, I spoke with our MassDEP Regional
Planning Coordinator Irene Congdon about a grant through MassDEP that provides
funding to municipalities to hire an Education and Enforcement Coordinator to enforce
private hauler recycling requirements. We could apply with the Town of Townsend to split
a part-time position with a grant amount of $30,000. This would require a 25% match
from the communities, which if split with Townsend would be $3,750 and could come
from the educational contractual amount we receive from Casella annually. This would
not be a town employee but a third party. In orderto be eligible for this grant, the Town
must have comprehensive hauler regulations that would need to be adopted by the
Board of Health. I reached out to the Board of Health and they have a meeting scheduled
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• I will be attending a Dispatch Administration Board meeting on Wednesday,
May 15.
• I will be attending the Montachusett Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
meeting on Wednesday, May 15.
• I will be attending the Board of Health meeting on Monday, May 20.
CURRENT BUSINESS
1. Minutes/ Warrants/ Action File Issues
Minutes of March 19, 2019 were approved.
The Board signed an accounts payable warrant in the amount of $671,480.18, a payroll
warrant in the amount of $784,878.50 and a payroll deductions warrant in the amount of
$28,221.30.
The Board signed the fiscal year 2019 4' Quarter Water Billing Commitment in the
amount of $7908.50.
Action Issues: Ms. Adams inquired what they could do to follow up on the rocks in the road
complaint during public comment. Ms. Lemieux will be speaking to the DP W Director. Ms.
Adams asked about reaching out to MassDOT regarding making the the intersection of
Massachusetts Avenue and Electric Avenue less dangerous. Ms. Lemieux will follow up with
Police Chief Marino.
Mr. Toale reminded everyone about Annual Election Day on May 18 at the TC Passios Building
from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Future BOS meetings are on May 21 and June 4, 2019.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Sue Doherty, COA Director, stated she did not mean to stay this late but as the discussion went
further and further into the Town Manager's review she felt compelled to speak. As a
Department Head, we talk amongst ourselves as department heads, and we hold nothing but
respect for Ms. Lemieux. She does a great job. It is 100% attendance at every department head
monthly meeting. I don't think that has ever happened before here. I just wanted to say that and
thank you.
Mr. Toale thanked the town employees, particularly the department heads and the chiefs, Elaine
Peterson, our Executive Assistant, and especially Ms. Lemieux. He thanked his fellow board
members over the years, Dave Matthews, Tom Alonzo, Paula Bertram and Bob Ebersole; my
current colleagues on the board, especially Damon McQuaid who in addition to his work on the
Board has worked with me on the Building Reuse Committee and Capital Planning, and who has
become a good friend over the years. I would like to recognize what I call an honorary citizen.
Early on in my tenure, my partner, Jo McLaughlin, who is the Public Access Coordinator, was
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in Lunenburg, not many people lock their doors. Thank you Judy for your encouragement. I also
want to thank the Lunenburg citizens, the people who are part of our community and thank you
for your support and encouragement. It's been an honor and privilege to serve you. Thank you.
Motion: D. McQuaid
To adjourn the meeting at 11:06 p.m.
2nd. P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine In. Petervon
Elaine M. Peterson
Executive Assistant to the Town Manager
RECEIVED & FILED
JUL 2 4 2019
LUNENBURG TOWN
CLERK OFFICE