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DOCUMENT : 2019-05-07-minutes-5159.txt
BOARD    : select-board
DATE     : 2019-05-07
KIND     : minutes
OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/select-board/2019-05-07-minutes-5159.txt
TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05072019-5159
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===OCR macOS Vision===
===PAGE 1===
Board of Selectmen present: Jamie Toale, Chairman; Damon McQuaid, Vice Chairman;
Phyllis Luck, Clerk; Katey Adams, Member
Also Present: Heather Lemieux, Town Manager
The meeting opened at 7:00 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mr. 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:
Mr. Toale stated last Saturday Lunenburg had their Annual Town Meeting. He thanked citizens
for coming ou;, they had good attendance for a very long meeting that people stayed through. He
thanked the Womens Club, school custodians, PACC, IT Department, and the voter check-in
statt. Ms.Adams echoed Mr. Toale, thanking everyone who stayed through the meeting.
Ms. Luck stated that during the Town Manager evaluation process last year Board members were
able to view each others' evaluations and determine if the consensus document was just that.
This year unless Board members are willing to make their evaluations public documents, Board
members will have no way to judge if the consensus is an opinion reached by the group as a
whole. She requested the Board take this week to review the document and reflect and measure it
against their own evaluation and be ready to discuss the evaluation at next week's meeting.
She has been informed by friends that the word on the street is that I am going after the Town
Manager tonight. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our role as a Selectboard is to support
the Town Manager and help her succeed. When she succeeds, we succeed. Supporting her does
not mean that you always agree. I have had citizens criticize me and I have said thanks for your
input. Sone of them elected me and it is their right to let me know what they are thinking. It is
our responsibility as a Board to let the Town Manager know when we agree or disagree. I would
resign from this Board before attacking anyone; I am just not wired that way. When I met with
Town Manager to go over her evaluation, I stated that I thought she is a wonderful person and
that she is working very hard; it's a tough job. I appreciate all that she does for Lunenburg.
Dave MacDonald, Island Road, thanked Chairman Jamie Toale for his six years of service to the
Town; you have done a magnificent job through thick and thin. We are going to be sorry to see
you go.
He stated he knew Ms. Lemieux's evaluation is due and he was sure a lot of people read the
letter he placed recently in the newspaper. Mr. MacDonald noted Ms. Lemieux was hired for her
resume, credentials and talents. You are in charge of this town. I have worked with you on the
Personnel Committee and other committees and what I see is the respect you get from your
employees and department heads; respect that you have earned. As a citizen, my wife and I want
===PAGE 2===
LAL
a.m. He encouraged everyone to attend.
Steve Weaver, 288 Holman Street, in regards to the Special Event permit that is being drafted,
wanted to ensure there is more citizen participation for input. He asked for a four-day event,
where does Sunday fall, is that two events for the week? He stated he has put in a request with
DPW to address stormwater problems on Holman Street.
APPOINTMENTS:
Boys & Girls Club of Lunenburg Tollbooth Request
Executive Director Michelle Belleza presented for the fundraiser request for Saturday, May 18
from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. in the Town Center
Motion: K. Adams
To approve the tollbooth request as presented
2nd. P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
Cruise Night- Memorial Drive
Police Chief Jim Marino presented the request for Wednesday, June 12 from 4:00 - 8:00 PM
on Memorial Drive. They would like to shut the road down for the event.
Motion: D. McQuaid
2"i: P. Luck
To approve Cruise Night as presented with a rain date of June 19
Vote: All in Favor
INTERVIEWS/APPOINTMENTS/ RE-APPOINTMENTS/ RESIGNATIONS
Land Acquisition Committee- Conservation Commission Representative- Ken Jones
Motion: D. McQuaid
2nd: P. Luck
To appoint Ken Jones as the Conservation Commission representative on the Land
Acquisition Committee
Discussion: Ms. Adams asked if anybody has been attending the meetings from Conservation.
Ms. Luck noted Jones has been attending already.
Vote: All in Favor
• Housing Authority-Special Appointment to Govenor's Appointee Vacancy
Karin Menard stated she wanted to serve because she is one year into a three-year elected
position on Parks Commission and she does not plan to run again. She is currently a court
appointed advocate for children in foster care and the first case she had was to find adequate
housing for the mother of one of the children. This is easier said than done. There is a great need
for affordable housing and what better way to get involved that to get on the Housing Authority.
Motion: K. Adams
2'd: P. Luck
To appoint Karin Menard to the Housing Authority with a term to expire May 1, 2021
Vote: All in Favor
===PAGE 3===
Sara Lowe presented for the Friday August 2 - Sunday August 4 event for Famtasia The Sheep
LLC, d/b/a Famtasia Family Getaway/Famtasia The Sheep to be located at 138 Howard Street.
Ms. Lowe has been communicating with Executive Assistant Peterson, Fire Chief Sullivan and
the Board of Health. We have decided to eliminate the camping and have partnered with Pine
Acres Campground to give discounts to our attendees. We ran this event last year in New
Hampshire. The focus is to have a weekend long place for families to get together and play
games and have fun. We have music and professional story tellers. We have an emergency
evacuation plan and the driveway will never have any vehicles parked in it. We have
professional parking attendants across the street.
Chief Marino stated he has voiced some concerns and Ms. Lowe will be addressing those. His
two biggest concerns was the grade of the driveway down to the street and possible noise to
direct abutters.
Ms. Lowe stated she has talked to one neighbor and left messages with her phone number to call
her back to all of the abutters, and they have not. Chief Marino said sound does travel and
recommended reaching out to people within at least a thousand feet.
Ms. Lowe stated in the morning are children's bands and storytellers that will be amplified onto
the lawn area. The stage is well back from the road and facing into a hilled area. Ms. Adams
stated her concern about the event already being advertised. Ms. Lowe stated she had been
emailing with Ms. Peterson for a couple of months and she had been asking us to hold off filing
because the Board was working on the special event permit. Ms. Lowe stated her concern with
holding off was that she needed to get advertisers to fund them. Ms. Peterson stated in an email
to me that she did not see a problem with us starting that part of the process.
Ms. Adams asked if the music from 9 to 10 on the Friday and Saturday is amplified?
Ms. Lowe said it was but we can turn it down. Ms.Adams asked what the size of the property
was and how many attendees were expected. Ms. Lowe answered eight acres and last year we had
about 150 attendees.
Mr. McQuaid asked if 200 attendees would work. Ms. Lowe asked if that would include her 50
volunteers. Mr. McQuaid stated 200 tickets. Ms. Lemieux asked how much parking is available.
Ms. Lowe stated the farm across the street is large and could accommodate 1000 cars there.
Motion: D. McQuaid
2°: P. Luck
To approve the Weekday and Sunday Entertainment licenses for Friday, August 2 to
Sunday, August 4 for Famtasia, The Sheep LLC, d/b/a Famtasia, The Family Getaway at
138 Howard Street with the conditions that no more than 200 tickets be sold and they
adhere to the noise hours that they presented and meet all the department head concerns
Discussion: Ms. Adams expressed concern about the hours and three days of amplified music.
Ms. Lowe stated her intent was to allow families to do activities during the music and be able to
hear each other, so the music is not loud enough that you can't have a conversation in front of the
stage. Ms. Adams stated we would authorizing 33 hours of amplified music.
===PAGE 4===
Mr. McQuaid amended the motion to no more than eight hours of amplified music per day.
Ms. Luck seconded it.
Vote: All in Favor
Mr. Toale reminded Ms. Lowe that she is still required to keep working with the Town on the
other details.
Skate Park Committee Update
Anthony Caiozzo, 1090 Massachusetts Ave., reported they ran a Battle of the Bands fundraiser at
the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley and raised over $2000. It was very successful and they
decided it would be a yearly event for the skate park. We also had a booth at the Groton Road
Race and talked to people from everywhere.
Aiden Moore, 59 Wildwood Road, reported they held a Fortnite tournament at the high school
and raised around $500. They also raised around $500 through a local church. They hosted a t-
shirt contest for their next line of fundraising t-shirts. The winner of the contest will get two free
t-shirts and their design on the set of t-shirts for sale.
Aiden Swift, 63 Oak Ave., reported they will holding a dodgeball tournament in the summer
through the church as a fundraiser, date to be announced. We have received a $2000 check from
the Turkey Hill Lunenburg Lions Club.
Chris Roy, 105 Chestnut Street, stated they had banana bread donated to them by Trudy's Treats.
We ran a bake sale at the high school during basketball games. Miles for Myles has pledged
$3000 to us. We are almost at the $50,000 mark.
Mason Whitcomb reported they have talked to the CEO of Rollstone Bank; they have promised
$2500 towards the skate park. He is also a trustee for the Crocker and Wallace Foundation and
will attempt to obtain $20,000 in matching funds from Crocker and $30,000 in matching funds
from Wallace. We are still looking to break ground in 2020, so we are downsizing the design of
the park to 4,000 to 6,000 square feet. The new goal amount is $200,000 to $250,000.
Ms. Lemieux asked if they have been updating the Parks Commission. Parks Commissioner
Menard stated we have not asked them to come back to us since the last time. They need to get
further into the process before coming back.
Mr. Toale commended the committee for their persistence. The Board thanked them for coming
in.
CURRENT BUSINESS
1. Town Manager Annual Performance Evaluation
Mr. Toale stated the process for this review is one created by the Board over several years. A
new wrinkle is the change in the process due to Open Meeting Law interpretation, so we would
not be sharing all of our individual evaluations with each other outside of a posted meeting and
therefore not having the ability to look at them ahead of time. Our intent tonight is to go through
all this compilation, hopefully you will see your input in it and the ratings and input from your
===PAGE 5===
I'll every ..
vales del car va
he due
Toale noted we have a commitment to get this done before the election as part of the Town
Manager's contract. Town labor counsel advised us to read it together in public meeting. Further
disussion ensued.
Vote: In Favor- 2 (Luck,Adams) Opposed- 2 ( McQuaid, Toale)
The motion failed.
Mr. Toale announced he would begin reading the draft composite evaluation and to feel free to
stop him if you have any comments.
BOS COMPOSITE - DRAFT 5/7/2019
POLICY AND PURPOSE
The purpose of this evaluation instrument is to formally appraise the Town Manager's performance
on an annual basis. The document allows the Board of Selectmen to assess the Town Manager's
performance in management practices and in the accomplishment of goals.
Individual performance evaluation forms prepared by members of the Board of Selectmen are
considered work product/personal documents, and shall not be publicly released. The only
document to be released will be this overview document, compiling the ratings and comments,
prepared by the Chair.
PROCEDURE
1. The Town Manager is reviewed annually on the achievement of the agreed upon goals
established the previous year and performance standards. The performance standards are
measured using a rating scale of "exceeds expectations", "meets expectations" and "needs
improvement". In addition to annual goal (s), ten categories of performance standards and
core responsibilities will be used to evaluate the Town Manager:
2. The Town Manager has submitted a narrative self-evaluation including a summary of the Town
Manager's performance against goals and objectives for the year.
3. Board members completed their evaluations, met and discussed their conclusions with the
Town Manager and gave their input to the Chairman.
4. This document represents composite ratings from individual reviews and represents a
consensus overview document.
S. Copies of the individual reviews will be given to the Town Manager and placed in the Town
Manager's personnel file.
===PAGE 6===
also says it will be reviewed, discussed, revised and accepted at a scheduled Board of Selectmen meeting
and that can be next week. Ms. Adams stated she would not be signing what she hadn't read. Mr.
McQuaid pointed out they would be reading it right now. When being accused of being disrespectful, Mr.
Toale stated that Ms. Luck and Ms. Adams were being disrespectful. He stated this is a very difficult
night for all of us, it is for the Town Manager; I put hours into putting this together and I believe I
included all of your input in it and this is your opportunity to see if 1 did. Ms. Adams countered with we
can read it, but it doesn't mean we will be able to talk about it.
TOWN OF LUNENBURG
TOWN MANAGER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Town Manager: Heather Lemieux
Date of Evaluation: 5/7/19
Review Period From:
5/18
To: 5/19
Type of Review:
xAnnual
наносит
RATING SCALE
The following scale will be used to rate the Town Manager's performance in all categories.
Exceeds Expectations:
Performance consistently exceeds expectations. The overall quality of work is excellent and
annual goals were met or exceeded.
Meets Expectations:
Performance consistently meets expectations and the overall quality of work is good. The most
critical annual goals were met.
Needs Improvement:
Performance has not met expectations and improvement is needed. One or more critical goals
were not met.
===PAGE 7===
Ms. Adams interjected her and Ms. Luck were considering leaving the meeting so they could discuss this
next week. Mr. Toale stated, "Ms. Adams you can do anything you believe is the right thing to do. We have
been advised by our Town Counsel to do it in this fashion." Ms. Luck stated, "we are not going to violate
Open Meeting law if we read it tonight and discuss it next week." Mr. McQuaid stated," this is how we were
instructed to do this and we should do it this way. "Discussion continued about the process recommended by
Town counsel and Open Meeting law. Mr. Toale did not see any harm in reading it now as advised by Town
Counsel, "if you choose not to vote on it or to think about it or whatever, that's fine." He wanted the first
reading of it to be in public right now. Ms. Luck agreed to read it in public but would like the discussion on
it to be held next week. Mr. Toale stated," then let's read it, I would like you to see the whole document and
if you choose not to vote on it, then that is fine. "
Motion: K. Adams
2ºd: P. Luck
In order to comply with Open Meeting Law that tonight we read this into the record and
we have a thoughtful discussion next week
Mr. McQuaid stated if you see something that is wrong tonight you should respond so Mr. Toale
can edit for next meeting. Mr. Toale stated he would not vote for that motion tonight because
that is what will happen if you choose not to vote tonight so you will get exactly what you
requested. Mr. Toale called for the vote.
In Favor- 2 (Luck, Adams) Opposed - 2 (McQuaid, Toale) Motion fails.
Mr. Toale continued reading the draft.
PARTI
PERFORMANCE ON PRIOR YEAR GOALS
Evaluation of the Town Manager's progress toward these goals will use agreed-upon measures of
progress and standards of performance in determining whether the intended results are being (or
have been) achieved.
1. Goal - Increase Public Outreach and Improve Public Relations:
Objective: To increase access to current information and solicit input from citizens on topics that are
important to the Town, residents, and its' businesses.
Annual Assessment:
* Complete
X In Progress • Not Undertaken
Launch Goal - Complete Process - Ongoing
All members felt that this goal was still in progress with two members feeling that it was at least
partially completed
===PAGE 8===
also on the Citizen Engagement page. The Charter/Bylaws and Important Documents buttons
were moved to the top of the main page and the home page middle buttons were changed to
Town Calendar and Town Meetings & Town Finances. A communications questionnaire was
created to gather data on how people receive information on town government and the type of
information they are interested in. We received slightly over 100 responses and 56% of
respondents receive their information through town social media accounts, 45% receive
information through the Lunenburg Ledger, and 42% of respondents receive information through
the Town website.
One member commented, "In its natural state, this type of goal is always ongoing". Another
member input that "I went to the Town Calendar on April 27 to peruse the timeliness of
information on the website and did not find either the Town Meeting on May 4 or Town Elections
on May 18 shown." Better use of the signs at the Ritter and the High School as well as the Town
Calendar were also suggested. Another member stated, "Heather has continued to seek input from
citizens on current issues, increase and create new two way communications. This is a job that is
never really done. Administration of the Facebook page as well as attending many other board
meetings, then relaying information to the board via the town manager reports has really opened
up the communication channels." While a member wondered if too much of the TM's time was
spent keeping up with the Town Web and Facebook activity. The same member felt an
opportunity to increase Public Outreach and participation was missed when the Town Manager
included two new positions in the Budget proposal without using the many communication
opportunities that are available to give visibility to these new hiring proposals.
2. Goal - Comprehensive Infrastructure Plan:
Objective: Address deferred maintenance on town buildings, recreation areas, and other town
infrastructure and continually update long-range capital plan for the town's assets
Annual Assessment:
Complete XL] In Progress
Not Undertaken
All members felt this was an ongoing goal and was "In Progress"
Town Manager was goaled to continue to develop a comprehensive inventory and Building and
Infrastructure Maintenance Plan that includes repair and maintenance of town buildings, school
buildings/land, recreation areas, roads, and underground infrastructure. Building and
infrastructure needs will be included in the Capital Plan and funded in the operating budget
through the Facilities account and Town Roads account. The FY20 Budget recommendation
includes an additional $40,000 for maintenance of facilities and an additional $50,000 in the
Town Roads account. Town Manager will continue to address infrastructure needs through
===PAGE 9===
One member recognized the Town Manager effort to continue the Town's plan to include
Building and infrastructure needs in the Capital Plan and be funded in the operating budget
through the Facilities account and Town Roads account and is pleased that she is continuing the
practice put in place when the Town passed the Road Improvement Debt Exclusion to include an
additional $50,000 in the Town Roads account. The member commented, "The Complete Streets
presentation recently given to the BOS was confusing at best; the consultant used information
that was different from the information provided to the BOS, leaving the BOS looking
unprepared." Another member commented that the Town Manager along with the Capital
Planning Committee have put together a google doc spreadsheet administered by the town
department heads that centralizes and projects capital needs in one location. "This has drastically
improved the ability to track needs and plan for the future. Heather has continued to develop a
comprehensive inventory and Building and Infrastructure Maintenance Plan that will include
repair and maintenance of town buildings, school buildings/land, recreation areas, roads, and
underground infrastructure. This is another task that is impossible to truly complete as building
and asset conditions are always changing, but I feel that her administration of the 10 year capital
plan has set a solid framework to track infrastructure."
3. Goal - Facilitate Business and Economic Development:
Objective: Create a partnership with the business community that promotes stability and growth of our
existing businesses.
Annual Assessment:
X Complete
X_ In Progress
L Not Undertaken
The Board was split on whether this goal was still in progress or completed during the review
year.
The Town Manager held sessions with the business community to find ways to partner with local
businesses and facilitate meetings with other business associations to form regional alliances.
She held business-town partnership meetings with the Lunenburg Business Association and
coordinated a joint meeting with the Pepperell Business Association that led to Lunenburg
joining Townsend, Pepperell and Groton in regional business association events. She has worked
with the regional planning agency and the business group to create a business brochure. She
applied for and received District Local Technical Assistance to have planning assistance from
Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) to create a business brochure. Meetings
were held with the Lunenburg Business Association to develop the "Explore Lunenburg"
brochure, which was completed at the end of 2018 and is now up on the website under the
Business section on the website and the Conservation Commission's page.
===PAGE 10===
AALLy SUL
until further direction can be provided.
4. Goal - Advance Human Resource Management:
Objective: Streamline processes and procedures for employees.
Annual Assessment:
X Complete
XL In Progress
Not Undertaken
All members feel that progress was made against this goal and two members feel that some
degree of completion was achieved during the review year.
Heather completed a comprehensive update of personnel policies and procedures: this will be a
regular review process starting in July. The Board reviewed and updated various policies and
procedures at the workshops in July and October and made amendments to the Alcohol and Drug
Policy and the CORI Policy. The Social Media Policy is the only personnel policy that is yet to
be updated. An Employee Handbook was completed that includes all the personnel policies,
codifies the town's hiring process, and other relevant employee information. New performance
evaluations were included in the most recent DPW collective bargaining agreement and are
being utilized. The plan is for other departments to implement performance evaluations for their
departments.
One member stated " I believe the Town Manager's proposal to add an Assistant Town
Manager/Human Resource Director and Recreation Director show that her work on Human
Resource management is still in progress." And "the Town Manager has been unwilling to engage
in further discussion on this topic, beyond defending her position, displaying an inflexibility and
unwillingness to listen. As a direct result of the Town Manager keeping these positions in the
budget, two members of the BOS were compelled to vote against recommending the FY20 budget."
Two members felt the staffing request was completely within Heather's area of responsibility and
voted to support her staffing plan and the FY20 budget.
5. Goal - Create Written Procurement Process and Procedures:
Objective: Compliance with procurement law, further internal controls against fraud, and implement
financial auditor's recommendation
Annual Assessment:
X Complete
• In Progress L Not Undertaken
The three members commenting on this goal felt that it was completed. One member did not
respond.
===PAGE 11===
signed off by the Town Manager and Finance Director and that all procurement files would now
be kept in the Town Manager's Office.
One member recommended that the procurement process would spell out who is responsible for
each task and push the responsibility down into the Sewer Department organization.
PART II
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
These standards reflect basic expectations of the Town Manager in the performance of the duties of the
position and measure how well the Town Manager completes the work required of his/her position. The
Town Manager is expected to perform his/her job responsibilities independently, efficiently and
effectively. The Town Manager shall possess the knowledge and skills required for the position, make
appropriate judgments, and work proactively to complete assignments.
RATING SCALE
The following scale will be used to rate the Town Manager's performance in all categories.
Exceeds Expectations:
Performance consistently exceeds expectations. The overall quality of work is excellent, and
goals were met or exceeded.
Meets Expectations:
Performance consistently meets expectations and the overall quality of work is good. The most
critical goals were met.
Needs Improvement:
not met.
Performance has not met expectations and improvement is needed. One or more critical goals were
1. Individual Characteristics:
Is dedicated to the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships in
order to merit the respect and confidence of the elected officials, other officials and employees, and
of the public. Demonstrates accountability for actions; conducts him/herself fairly and honestly.
• Exercises good judgment.
• Displays enthusiasm, cooperation, and willingness to adapt.
• Exhibits composure, appearance, and attitude appropriate for executive position.
• Treats others in a fair, consistent, impartial, and professional manner. Is etfective in dealing with
people without arousing antagonism and demonstrates an understanding of difficult situations.
===PAGE 12===
and committee meetings upon request. Department head meetings allow all the departments to
share what they are currently working on in their department and often times think of ways we
can work together to achieve a goal. She coordinated a meeting between the Library and School
to talk about trying out a pilot program with 5th grade classes coming to the library. This
required an increase in staffing needs at the library to assist all the students and was achieved
through budget amendments made at the November Special Town Meeting to fund the increase
in staffing hours. She attended various Parks Commission meetings to listen to their needs,
supported their capital project requests in the coming year's Capital Plan, and requested a Parks
Director position in the FY20 budget to support their administrative, physical maintenance, and
programming needs that are lacking due to no dedicated staff. Ms. Lemieux displays a
professional demeanor with staff, appointed and elected officials, other agencies and the public
at large. She maintains working relationships outside the boundaries of Lunenburg, including the
Dispatch Administration Board with area Town Administrators, with the North Central Chamber
of Commerce, Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, and our state legislators. An
example of proactively seeking a solution and offering a resolution was addressing the
inaccessibility of a variety of our facilities and recreation areas. Ms. Lemieux proposed to the
Board and ultimately Town Meeting, to amend the Americans with Disabilities Commission
composition to have a majority of the members be individuals with disabilities or have a family
member with a disability and also proactively applied for both planning and project grants from
the MA Office on Disability. Prioritizing competing demands is a skill that Heather has
demonstrated. Personnel issues always take a high precedence over other matters and often have
required adjusted timelines to respond. A Town Manager must balance the need to complete
administrative work, preparation for Board meetings, meetings with other committees, boards,
and agencies, amongst all the other day-to-day responsibilities.
One member stated, "The Town Manager conducts herself appropriately. Despite the fact that the
wrong budget information was included in the May 2018 Town Warrant, Town Meeting went
smoothly. She is still new to this position and this Town and is still adjusting to the enormity of the
tasks before her. She meets my expectations for someone still learning the job.
She does sometimes appear rigid and unwilling to adapt. One example was her unwillingness to
support the implementation of 24/7 Ambulance coverage in Lunenburg one year earlier than was
planned, even though it was shown to be able to fit into the budget and be of great benefit to the
Town. Her only objection was that it deviated from the "plan". The measure was widely supported
by Lunenburg's citizens and passed overwhelmingly at Town Meeting." Another member
commented, "The current board has been less than civil and or agreeable this year. Heather has
navigated that tension and animosity with better composure and more professionalism than I
===PAGE 13===
• Knows when to take action and what type of action is appropriate.
• Anticipates stakeholder needs and attitudes, and the impact of policies and procedures, and responds
appropriately.
RATING - The Board was split with 2 members Exceeds Expectations and 2 Meets Expectations:
As a result of client input, Ms. Lemieux made a decision to move the Veterans Service Office to
the Ritter Memorial Building. She worked with the Facilities Technician and the IT department
to prepare the office and make sure it had phone and fax connections, the Veterans Agent was
moved in February. This has provided the Eagle House with much needed storage space in the
old office. To ensure that all stakeholders knew the move was occurring, proper notification was
posted and advertised in the Ledger. When retail stores ran out of Pay As You Throw bags, Ms.
Lemieux immediately worked out a solution and back-up plan with the bag vendor that put our
main retailer on an auto-order instead of the bag vendor waiting for payment and to have an
emergency supply of bags at the DPW. She initiated the process to work with the Public
Employee Committee to do health care plan changes that resulted in the introduction of a high
deductible plan, decreased the town's liability for Medicare Part B Reimbursement over the
course of the agreement, and reduced the Town's OPEB liability costs by millions due to these
plan changes. This took a year and a half of meeting with the Public Employee Committee. She
introduced six changes to optional insurances that have resulted in savings to the employees and
better coverage including dental, life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, and
disability insurances. Initiated a review of all the tax title properties with the Finance Director
and Treasurer/Collector that identified having tax lien sale(s) would be the optimal way for the
Town to be made "whole" in that the bidder would pay all outstanding taxes, penalties, and
interest and keep the taxes current going forward. By notifying delinquent taxpayers of the
pending tax lien sale, many delinquent taxpayers paid their outstanding taxes before the tax lien
sale (thus decreasing the amount of outstanding taxes) and the Town recouped approximately
$130,000. The overarching goal was to reduce the amount of delinquent taxes that went back
many years and "clean-up" the books. Ms. Lemieux is currently working to address the
contamination in the Town's recycling through public outreach, education and a plan to
implement procedures that have proven effective in other communities. That plan was reported
to the Board and included requesting a residual/contamination detail report from Casella to
provide us with a baseline, remind Casella to use the OOPS tags for unacceptable recycling, send
out a tax bill insert with Recycle Smart information, doing monthly posts with recycling tips on
different communication channels, getting another contamination detail report from Casella, and
ultimately conduct a curbside contamination audit.
===PAGE 14===
positive outlook and alternative solutions during meetings. Isolating problems and identifying
solutions has become a full time job on its own and I feel that Heather handles that role with
great composure and judgement."
3. Professional Skills and Knowledge:
• Maintains knowledge of current developments affecting the practice of local government
management and is familiar with applicable local, state and federal legislation and regulations
related to Town services.
• Anticipates and analyzes problems to develop effective approaches for solving them. Willing to try
new ideas proposed by the Board members and/or staff.
• Demonstrates skill in listening, speaking and writing, persuading without diminishing the views of
others.
• Has a full working knowledge of the administrative and management systems and procedures.
• Ensures that the policies and procedures for employee hiring, promotion, performance appraisal,
and discipline are equitable, legal, and current; ensures that human resources are adequate to
accomplish objectives.
• Understands and implements long-range and strategic planning techniques; identifies trends that
will affect the community; demonstrates and understanding and ability to analyze and facilitate
policy choices that will benefit the community in the long run.
• Conveys ideas and information effectively in written and verbal format.
• Exchanges verbal and nonverbal messages with others in a way that demonstrates respect for the
individual and furthers organizational and community objectives.
RATING - While 3 members rated - Exceeds Expectations, 1 member felt that the Rating was
Needs improvement.
Ms. Lemieux attends professional development sessions through the professional associations
and belongs to the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association, the Massachusetts Municipal
Managers Association, and Small Town Administrators meetings. She attends procurement
classes as required to keep up procurement certification. She has made annual recommendations
to the Board on various policies including personnel policies, and drafted an employee handbook
that will be provided to employees and promote fair and equitable employment practices. An
annual review of the Board's policies ensures compliance with current state and federal law as
well as reassessing policies to make sure they are in line with current practice. In regards to long
range and strategic planning, capital planning and forecasting the Town's revenues and expenses
are two areas that improvements have been made in regards to data collection and the ability to
analyze the data. Using the template worksheets provided by the Department of Revenue's
Division of Local Services for financial forecasting, the debt schedule worksheet can be used to
see the impact of borrowing by plugging in principal and interest payments on the current debt
===PAGE 15===
Town Manager reports are summaries of various ongoing action items, department updates, and
a means of keeping the Board informed. Ms. Lemieux insures that these are written so residents
can also follow along with the progress that is being made and important updates.
While one member stated,
, "I appreciate that the Town Manager attends professional development
sessions through professional associations, and attends classes to retain her procurement
certification, as required of the Town's Chief Procurement Officer." "The Town Manager, in the
inclusion in the budget of one management position and one other staff position, has demonstrated a
lack of understanding of long-range and strategic planning. Nor did she convey the need for these 2
positions effectively in writing or verbally."
Other members felt "Heather is very well informed on topics in the Town" and "Heather has given
many updates in her town manager reports from seminars that keep her and the board current on
new developments in regulations and practice. Her communications, both written and verbal are
always executed professionally and respectfully. I have witnessed her ability to implement long
range planning on behalf of the capital planning committee. Her dedication to consistently
budgeting money for the special purpose stabilization fund shows great foresight and is
preparing the town for future needs. She has also consistently recommended increased budgeting
for annual maintenance of town infrastructure to preserve our town assets."
4. Teamwork & Leadership:
Is a productive team leader in responding to, encouraging, and supporting the ideas of others.
Instills a loyal, cooperative attitude among employees and the organization.
Builds cooperation and consensus among and within diverse groups, helping them identify common
goals and act effectively to achieve them; recognizes interdependent relationships and multiple
causes of community issues; and anticipates the consequences of policy decisions.
• Acts as a neutral party in the resolution of disputes. Has knowledge and skill in
mediation/negotiation principles.
Ratings: One member did not respond to this category. 1 member rated Meets Expectations and 2
members rated Exceeds Expectations
The Department Heads continue to be extremely supportive of Ms. Lemieux. She is seen as a
leader and advocate for the staff.
Heather continues to hold monthly Department Head meetings that are rotated between all the
town facilities. These meetings exemplify teamwork; at these meetings, everyone reports on
what they are currently working on, upcoming projects or programs, ways we can assist each
other, and is a way to keep everyone up to date on the "goings on" relative to events and
===PAGE 16===
Union for a new three-year agreement. She has resolved employee disciplinary issues that if not
done correctly could result in expensive litigation.
The member who did not provide a rating stated, "I appreciate that the Town Manager holds
monthly Department Head meetings and would look forward to members of the BOS being invited
to attend so that they may have a first-hand look at the Town Manager's leadership style."
"As we were not allowed to interview employees or view any personnel evaluations prepared by
the Town Manager, I am at a loss to answer this question. I feel the BOS lacks sufficient
information to evaluate the Town Manager in this area, so cannot provide a "grade" at this time.
She neither exceeds nor meets my expectations as a leader, from what I am able to observe".
One member stated "Often times I do not feel that our Town Manager remains neutral. Examples
include the hiring of an Assistant Town Manager and the proposed town office move to TCP.
Another example is the conveyance of town land."
A member commented, "Heather seeks out input from department heads as topics relate to their
areas of expertise. Letters and input from department heads are consistently included in BOS
information packets so the board is able to respond to their input. Great cooperation can be seen
between town departments on many fronts. Balancing staffing and capital need requests for
Police, Fire, and the DPW is navigated with great care and consideration for all parties. Under
her leadership, department heads have been patient and willing to take turns with each other as
we purchase new equipment and hire staff with the understanding that there is a long-term plan
for everyone to get the resources they need to function effectively".
5. Staff Effectiveness:
• Encourages the development and high-level performance of staff and employees throughout the
organization. Effectively selects and hires employees for position vacancies.
• Creates a work environment that encourages responsibility and decision making at all
organizational levels. Shares authority as necessary and removes barriers to creativity.
• Assigns responsibility to others, clearly defines expectations, provides direction and support, and
evaluates results.
• Stays accurately informed and appropriately concerned about employee relations.
• Professionally manages the compensation and benefits plan.
• Develops and executes sound personnel procedures and practices.
• Seeks to foster high morale and cohesiveness among employees.
• Promotes training and development opportunities for employees at all levels of the organization.
RATING - The Board was split with 2 members Exceeds Expectations and 2 Meets Expectations:
===PAGE 17===
in the appropriate collective bargaining agreement, or posting of non-union positions per the
Town Charter, and has now been formalized in writing in the Employee Handbook. This ensures
a uniform, fair procedure for current employees to be promoted, if qualified and for external
applicants. Personnel policies are reviewed annually, or amended sooner if a change in law
necessitates it, and are given to all employees so they are cognizant of what the Town's policy
says. Prior to beginning negotiations with any of the unions, she met with the Board to discuss
issues they would like addressed and the parameters of wage increases. Ms. Lemieux initiated
the process to work with the Public Employee Committee for health care plan changes that
resulted in the introduction of a high deductible plan, decreased the town's liability for Medicare
Part B Reimbursement over the course of the agreement, and a reduction in OPEB liability costs
due to these plan changes. She initiated changes to optional insurances (that do not cost the
Town anything) that have resulted in savings to the employees and better coverage including
dental, life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, and disability insurances.
Monthly staff meetings are a vehicle to foster teamwork, and group cohesiveness, and held an
employee luncheon for all staff and it was well received. Examples of assigning responsibility
include having the Land Use Director present the various iterations on a Special Event Permit
and having the Police, Fire, and DPW take the lead on providing more data on the Fuel Tank
Capital Project request and asking them to engage with residents to answer questions they may
have. There is much evidence of the strong working relationships developed with all the staff and
mutual respect for each other. Ms. Lemieux' staff depends on each other and Lunenburg is
fortunate to have the level of dedication that our employees exhibit on a daily basis.
One member wrote, "Ms. Lemieux also appears to be very engaged with all departments"
Other input: "I appreciate that the Town Manager has taken advantage of the Town's insurance
company's Employee Assistance Program trainings to promote staff effectiveness. Further, that
she has recognized the Town's need to have paramedics on staff and has included funding in the
FY20 budget to continue paramedic training for the two firefighters hired in FY19. The Town
Manager, in her self-evaluation, cited 2 examples of assigning responsibility; I would like to see
many more such examples of assigning responsibility blossom in the coming year, as I feel it is a
real need." "Through collective bargaining negotiations Heather has been working toward the
implementation of performance evaluations for staff to clearly define expectations. She has
worked to refine existing and develop new personnel procedures and policies."
6. Supervisory Oversight and Direction:
• Elicits respect from others and sets an example of professionalism within the organization.
Motivates and communicates well with staff.
===PAGE 18===
RAlly- tle Duard was Spit Witl - mellbers baceeus expectanons and Itels tapectatons.
Ms. Lemieux meets with department heads and other staff to review ongoing and future project.
She listens first, offering feedback to help achieve the goal, and checking in at a later date to
check on the status. Valuing the ideas and input of department heads creates a stronger
commitment towards the success of the organization. Ms. Lemieux states "Lunenburg is
fortunate in that we have excellent leaders in each of our departments that have years of
experience and knowledge and are also dedicated to the people of Lunenburg, their fellow
employees, and are always looking for ways to improve." A few examples of how Ms. Lemieux
has worked with department heads to achieve these goals are: • The Fire Department: The Fire
Chief would like to get the department to a Paramedic level service to provide a higher level of
service to our aging community and eliminate the reliance on other ALS services. The FY18 and
FY19 budget included added staff towards this goal, and the FY20 proposed budget continues
the necessary Paramedic level training to meet the four-year plan. The Capital Plan also includes
figures in the projected year that the Town could apply to run at an ALS level to outfit the
ambulances with the necessary equipment to run as an ALS service. • This last year the Police
Chief, Animal Control Officer, and Town Manager worked towards the feasibility of creating a
Regional Animal Control Facility. Heather helped in the application process in order to receive a
grant through the Regionalization and Efficiency grant program for $42,000 and then put out a
Request for Proposals for Architectural and Engineering Services to hire an architect to work
with us and Townsend officials to perform a feasibility study, hire a geotechnical engineer,
design a facility, and cost estimate. The exercise has answered questions about cost for such a
project and the Police Chief and TM proposed an alternate solution to the Board about pursuing
the purchase of the land in front of the Police Station that would not only provide a building that
would not need the amount of funding to build a new facility behind the Public Safety Building
but also would provide a much needed second means of egress to the Public Safety Building. •
The Land Use Director and TM have worked together on promoting our local economy.
Lunenburg applied for and received District Local Technical Assistance the past two years on
different projects that were to promote the local economy such as using Montachusett Regional
Planning staff to help facilitate the creation of a business association, creating a Business
Brochure that could also be used by the Lunenburg Business Association, and creating a
Permitting Guidebook. The Land Use Director and TM went to every meeting together and
communicated with each other and the attendees at these meetings throughout to achieve these
end products. This involved listening to all the input and suggestions of business owners and
incorporating them into end products that reflected the consensus of the group. There is a mutual
level of respect and trust that has only improved over the last two and a half years. I think it is
important to always be professional in your demeanor and how you carry out your duties and it is
===PAGE 19===
expectations I have for someone new to the job. She, understandably sometimes has difficulty
delegating to her subordinates. The Lunenburg Economic Development Committee is an example
of this." The member continued "... rather than tasking [The Land Use Director] with the creation
of an Economic Development Committee, the Town Manager took on the task of creating one, and
listed the Land Use Director as an "Ex-officio" member (such a member does not have to attend
committee meetings). "In my first evaluation of the Town Manager, I had detailed in one of the
Town Manager's direct reports that I felt needed more guidance and supervision; the situation as
outlined in that first evaluation has grown steadily worse, indicating to me that the Town Manager
has either dismissed my concerns or has been ineffective in dealing with the situation."
Another member commented, "I have not witnessed anything but a professional and positive
relationship between Heather and staff members."
7. Community and Public Relations:
• Demonstrates a constant and sincere interest in providing the highest quality service to town
residents and instills the value of good customer service in staff.
• Understands the basic principles of service delivery in functional areas (e.g. public safety,
community and economic development, human and social services, administration, public works).
• Anticipates future needs, organizes work operations, and establishes timetables for work units or
projects. Is aware of technological advances and changing standards; identifies and understands
trends. Effectively allocates resources and predicts the impact of service delivery decisions.
Determines citizen needs and provides responsive, equitable services to the community.
• Maintains a consistently high level of quality in staff work, operational procedures, and service
delivery; facilitates organizational improvements.
• Maintains good working relationship with legislators, media, and public groups/organizations.
• Cooperates with other regional, state, and federal government agencies.
RATING - The Board was split with 2 members Exceeds Expectations and 2 Meets Expectations:
Ms. Lemieux is often the primary contact with residents. Heather listens and works with the
appropriate officials to resolve their concerns. Examples would include a complaint by residents
about dumping of trash outside a donation bin in the Lunenburg Crossing parking lot; Heather
engaged the Land Use Director, Board of Health, and Police Department. After working with the
owner of the property, the donation bin was removed. Another example: complaints received
about a certain public official and the lack of service provided to these residents. Ms. Lemieux
met with each of the residents, documented their concerns and met with the employee to
investigate the issues raised. Ultimately, the employee was issued a letter that put them on notice
and the level of service expected. She has a good working relationship with each of our
===PAGE 20===
Opioid Awareness & Recovery), the Lunenburg Women's Club, and the Business community.
The Salvation Army requested support in promoting their events. such as the Christmas Angel
Program and other events. ROAR also asked for support in promoting their events. Heather
created a page under the Community section to post information and share upcoming events. The
last couple of years, she worked with the Women's Club where their food sales benefit recipients
of scholarship money they raise. A significant amount of time has been spent over the last two
years in working with the business community to facilitate the organization of a business
association, and develop materials to promote the local economy.
One member commented "Ms. Lemieux works to communicate well, however sometimes
information doesn't seem to make it all the way to the people, but I don't think that the reasons
lie with her."
Another stated, "The Town Manager represents the Town in a positive and professional manner.
In her self-evaluation, the Town Manager reports that she meets with residents that have concerns,
has a good working relationship with Lunenburg's legislators, and has met with various
organizations such as The Salvation Army, ROAR (Resources for Opioid Awareness & Recovery),
the Women's Club, as well as the Business Community.
I know first-hand that she worked with Senator Tran's office to secure grant funding for
Lunenburg and am grateful for that."
Finally, a member contributed "As mentioned previously, through the new website and the town
Facebook page Heather has created an avenue to reach many residents, to keep them informed
and to create an atmosphere of good customer service. Through budgeting and capital planning,
she addresses future needs of the town. It is evident that she dedicates a great deal of time to
communicating and collaborating with staff, boards and committees, and various public and
government agencies to better her ability to provide a consistently high level of service and
oversee operation of the town as a whole. She makes an effort to attend a cross section of other
board meetings at night on a regular basis to improve her relationship with all boards. Her
thoughtful and detailed town manager reports are a valuable resource to the BOS and provide
insight into all of the effort she puts into her role as town manager."
8. Fiscal Management:
• Prepares and administers the budget; shows knowledge of budgeting principles and practices,
revenue sources, projection techniques, and financial control systems; presents information in an
intelligent and accessible format.
===PAGE 21===
RATING - While 3 members rated - Exceeds Expectations, 1 member felt that the Rating was
Needs Improvement.
When putting together the budget, the Town Manager's goal is create a budget that balances the
needs of all the departments (Town and School) given the limited resources. Working with the
Police and Fire Chiefs, long-term staffing plans were created to hire one Police Officer a year for
ten years and one Firefighter a year for four years. The cost of hiring multiple officers and
multiple firefighters in a year would significantly increase the financial impact in future years by
significant salary increases and overtime costs and therefore the incremental plan made the most
financial sense. The budget presentations that Ms. Lemieux provides to the Finance Committee,
the Board of Selectmen, the public hearing, and at town meetings include a summary of the
process, a review of all the revenues that the Town uses to base the budget on, a description of
the types of expenditures, and summarizes the major changes in the budget. These are
PowerPoint presentations and given in a manner that is easily understood. There are a number of
areas that Ms. Lemieux has proposed to make the best possible use of available funds, such as
putting a larger amount of free cash into reserves, minimizing borrowing to reduce the overall
debt, continuing to increase the pavement management funding by $50,000 each year, increasing
the amount in the Facilities account to address deferred maintenance projects, and putting a
portion of free cash into the Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Trust Fund. All of these
items promote financial stability and fiscal responsibility. This was evident when our auditing
firm presented that we are improving our financial creditworthiness due to increasing the amount
in our reserves. Also, putting aside funding into the OPEB Trust Fund adds to our
creditworthiness when the Town needs to go out to bond for projects. As stated in Criteria #3,
capital planning and forecasting the Town's revenues and expenses are two areas that
improvements have been made in regards to data collection and the ability to analyze the data.
The Capital Plan provides projected capital needs for the next 10 years and has become more
comprehensive with the addition of the Vertex facility projects. The Financial Forecast and the
Capital Plan were presented to both the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen in January.
There were a number of amendments to the Financial Policies this year including the Investment
Policy, the Debt Policy, Free Cash Policy, and Borrowing Policy. Recently the Finance Director
and I proposed a Reimbursement Policy that puts into writing the reimbursement procedure that
the Town follows and was a recommendation by our auditing firm. This ensures that approved
expenses are reimbursed with backup documentation and decreases the risk of fraud. As Chief
Procurement Officer, Ms. Lemieux reviews all bid packages from both the Town and School to
make sure they are compliant with Procurement Law. This year included a Request for Proposals
for Engineering and Architectural Services for a Regional Animal Control Facility. More
===PAGE 22===
One member felt that the budget process needs to be much more open and flexible to insure that
the needs of the Town are met. The Capital Plan is another fiscal area that needs to be much more
open and flexible. "In the Capital Plan Fuel Tank discussions, there was no discussion concerning
the cost effectiveness of the program, the environmental issues of continuing to use tanks and the
placement thereof in an environmentally sensitive area, nor were alternative strategies explored,
until the issues were raised by residents. I am hopeful the Town Manager will grow in these areas
as she gains more experience."
Another said, "Heather takes a conservative approach to budgeting that has consistently afforded
us the ability to allocate excess funds to much needed capital projects and to increase the yearly
contribution to the special purpose stabilization fund. Without this sound planning we would
never have been able to afford a new pumper truck or ambulance without borrowing money."
9. Relations with Elected Members of the Board:
• Maintains effective communication with the Board. Maintains mutual trust and treats all Board
members equally.
• Implements Board's actions in accordance with their intent.
• Keeps the Board advised as to the needs of the Town, including but not limited to, the status of
buildings, equipment and infrastructure needs.
• Keeps board members advised of the status of projects and work assignments.
• Carries out directives of the body as a whole as opposed to those of any one member or minority
group.
• Disseminates complete and accurate information equally to all members in a timely manner.
• Offers professional advice to the Board on items requiring board action, with appropriate
recommendations and supporting information based on thorough study and analysis.
• Responds well to requests, advice, and constructive criticism.
RATING - The Board was split with 2 members Exceeds Expectations and 2 Needing
Improvement:
This is the area with the most serious disagreement among Board members with regards to
performance vs. expectations. Two members feel that the Town Manager needs improvement.
One stated, "I greatly appreciate that the Town Manager prepares a report for each meeting.
However, I feel that the BOS is not always provided with important information. When the Vice
Chair of the Planning Board Member resigned, he sent a letter to the Town Manager that included
several important areas of concern. The BOS was not given a copy until it became widely known
and was then specifically requested.
===PAGE 23===
waves
with individual members, but, I can only speak from my experience."
The other member suggesting improvement was required stated, "Perhaps the circumstances are
because I am a new member, but at meetings, often times other members know things prior to our
open meetings. Communication seems to happen behind the scenes which is discouraging."
Contrasting that, a member wrote "Through electronic distribution of BOS meeting packets, it is
insured that the entire board receives equal and timely access to all necessary documents.
Included in the packet is the town manager report that covers a wide cross section of information
including status of ongoing projects and infrastructure needs as well as progress on goals.
Heather consistently offers professional advice during BOS meetings to help members make
informed decisions. As mentioned before, Heather has handled a tumultuous and at times less
than professional group of BOS members with great professionalism."
Ms. Lemieux is very conscientious in her duty to relay important information to the Board. This
may include emails from residents that they have asked to forward to the Board members,
questions that have been asked by one member and therefore distributed to all as a follow-up to
the question, public safety updates from Police/Fire or event information such as the Summer
Street Groundbreaking ceremony. To prepare Board members for meetings, the use of the
Google Drive has proven very effective. All correspondence on topics on the agenda are filed in
a Google folder for all members to view before meetings. The Town Manager weekly reports
offer relevant updates to keep the Board and public updated and at times an objective
recommendation. The Town Manager reports also have incorporated a summary of department
updates from the monthly department head meetings, announcements, and upcoming meetings
Heather will be attending. She always attempts to incorporate all members of the Board's
suggestions in the final product. Any action to implement a policy or decision of the Board is
based on the majority vote of the Board.
10. Reporting
• Provides regular information and reports to the Board concerning matters of importance to the local
government, using the Town Charter as a guide.
• Responds in a timely manner to requests from the Board for special reports.
• Takes the initiative to provide information, advice, and recommendations to the Board.
• Reports produced by the Manager are accurate, comprehensive, concise and written to their
intended audience.
• Produces and handles reports in a way to convey the message that affairs of the organization are
open to public scrutiny.
===PAGE 24===
Board to review in advance of meetings.
One member wrote, "The Town Manager Report is a good method for communicating"
Another added, "The Town Manager's Report prepared for each BOS meeting she attends is very
well received and keeps the BOS and citizens tuning into BOS meetings, informed of many things
going on in Town. I would greatly appreciate receiving this report by noon on the day of the
meeting, at the latest; were it to be made available on the day before the meeting that would be
even more helpful.
I realize that the Town Manager is still new to this position and may be reluctant to provide advice
and recommendations to the Board. I believe the BOS erred when voting to allow the Skate Park
group to use land adjacent to T. C. Passios, without first reaching out to the Parks Commission or
the DPW. It would have been helpful if the Town Manager could have weighed in to suggest that
the BOS to take the time to reach out before voting. The recent request for a TIF was another
instance where guidance would have been appreciated. I look forward to growth in this area."
Finally, a member added, "As previously mentioned, her thoughtful and detailed town manager
reports are a valuable resource to the BOS and provide insight into all of the effort she puts into
her role as town manager. When a member request information or has an action item they would
like addressed Heather consistently has a response either immediately or by the next meeting."
PART III
OVERALL PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
This section indicates the employee's overall level of performance.
Given the performance competencies ratings and the achievement of the annual goals, summarize
the employee's overall performance.
Comments Regarding Employee's Overall Performance
The average rating of all Performance Standards by all Board members was halfway between
Meets and Exceeds Expectations. While one member's overall average fell below Meets
Expectations due to three standards rated Needs Improvement, the remaining members' average
ratings were above Meets Expectations and two members rated Heather Exceeds Expectations
on most (8/10) and all (10/10) factors.
Best Achievement:
===PAGE 25===
Town Manager and Finance Director and that all procurement files would now be kept in the
Town Manager's Office. "
"Dedication to conservative budgeting that has allowed for new hires, purchase of capital
equipment without borrowing, and consistent contributions to the special purpose stabilization
fund"
Subjects Which Would Benefit Most from Further Attention:
"I think it is important to always be aware, that Lunenburg is a government and not a business. The
participation of the community in government is essential."
"Employee supervision and delegation of authority while retaining responsibility. Performance
goals and reviews are an important part of management. According to the Town Manager (in an
email to me dated 4 18 19), only one of her direct reports has had such an evaluation this year. All
Town employees should be reviewed each year and the Town Manager would set a good example
by making sure this happens.
"I believe we should stay dedicated to the pursuit of Complete Street projects especially for the
center of town even if we need to identify small portions of the recommended projects with the
biggest impact to fund through the capital plan."
General Comments:
"The Town Manager joined us in early 2017; she was replacing an exceptional Town Manager
who'd been leading the Town for ten years. It is an impossible job to fill those very capable shoes
out of the gate. My deepest fear for both the Town Manager and the Town we all love is, if the
Town Manager truly believes she currently "exceeds expectations" in all areas, as is stated in her
self-evaluation, that the BOS is not setting the bar high enough. I do feel the Town Manager is
working hard and I am hopeful she will grow into the Town Manager Lunenburg needs."
"I can't emphasize enough how impressed and grateful I am for the way Heather has persevered
through this year of BOS member conflicts and issues. She has been able to find direction
despite conflicting opinions and individual agenda. I know it must have been frustrating and
exhausting, but she did not let it show."
"Ms. Lemieux has demonstrated her abilities as a strong Town Manager. She has the respect of
the Department Heads, and is a valuable asset to the Select Board. She is knowledgeable of
municipal government; works well with Counsel, and provides solid staff support to the Board."
===PAGE 26===
ivis. belicus, troll del esperence medl evardon process, sit sadly d close is bit
average of each member's board evaluation, using a numerical value that would be the average
of all numbers. Ms. Adams looking at the average of the ratings, calculated it out to an 80%.
Mr. Toale stated last year there were many long discussions by the Board at the time to move
from numeric ratings to input that could be useful to the person who was receiving the
information. We felt at the time and this could be changed going forward, meaningful input to an
employee is to know if they are meeting expectations or need improvement or exceeding
expectations and should continue. When you reduce it to a numeric value, whether you have a 10
point scale or whatever, you get hung up on ending up with 73.67, for example, and it doesn't
provide any valuable information to the recipient. The Board that put this together specifically
agreed to give up some quantifiable data. The only reason I did it this this way is I knew that we
had a split board and wanted to lay it out so that we could see that consensus is split. The
meaningful data is not an average number, but where do we agree and disagree on each of the ten
factors. If you give this information to the Town Manager and she understands that we all agree
to it, in our own different ways, it's meaningful data for her. Mr. McQuaid agreed it's
meaningful for the public too. Ms. Adams agreed, except being analytical and clinical, if you
want to look year to year, felt like you have to have something concrete because you can't take
five years' worth of 22 pages of documents and really get a sense of anything. She stated under
#9, relations with members of the elected Board, she found it very striking that I was not the only
one who felt I wasn't communicated with. There is value in discussing these things because
something like that is very serious. There was a Board meeting on May 2 during the day, two
members left and two members stayed, so you see where some people are excluded
When we have questions or appear concerned, then it is turned on us for being negative. I have
felt on the outside a lot and in open government, it's very important that we all feel included
Mr. McQuaid stated speaking for myself; I rarely ever seek out information from Heather behind
the scenes or have any discussion with her. I probably know more things because I have been
doing them for seven years. Ms. Adams stated she came back to the office afterwards on May 2
and wasn't allowed back in the office. Ms. Lemieux clarified she was meeting with Mr. Toale in
her office, just the two of us, going over the evaluation and the agenda for tonight. There was no
other Board member in my office.
Mr. McQuaid stated he gets 99% of my information from the information distributed in the
google drive and I do not get it directly ahead of time. Mr. Toale added the role of the chair
involves setting an agenda and that is part of my job.
Mr. Toale stated at some point we need to vote on a document as we are committed to provide
one to Town Manager. If you have not used your personal review, which is protected under
personnel law as a document at this meeting, it is not a public record
The intent of this process is to provide meaningful feedback to the Town Manager on her
performance and to provide meaningful direction to this board to improve its performance going
forward.
===PAGE 27===
When asked, Ms. Lemieux stated she had no comments at this time.
2. Annual Town Meeting Follow-up: Action Issues
Ms. Adams stated she was concerned that the ballot questions that we voted on did not make it
on to the election ballot. She wanted to know how it did not make on the ballot. Ms. Lemieux
stated it was her error, completely unintentional and she took full responsibility for it and
apologized profusely. It will never happen again.
Ms. Adams stated she wished it had not been mentioned before the town meeting vote as she
believed it affected the vote.
Mr. Toale stated a mistake was made and something did not get printed. He believed it was very
noble of the Town Manager to take the responsibility but there is a lot of us that has some
culpability in this. The Town Clerk is responsible for the elections and a ballot got printed
without all the information on it. The Planning Board were the ones who wanted to get the
information on the ballot and they were a player in the event who could have caught it. We
signed off on it and the we trusted our staff, but the buck stops here too. There is a lot of people
who missed this. The learning here is it is never going to happen again. The Town Manager is
taking the responsibility and I acknowledge that and appreciate that.
Ms. Lemieux stated she did talk to the Town Clerk if the Board had wanted to hold an election,
what that period looks like.
Mr. McQuaid stated the situation was obviously regrettable but we did pledge that the three
board members who would still be here would put it on an upcoming ballot should it pass. We
handled it the best that we could. Mr. Toale stated to have special election requires at least 35
days to get notices out. We have an election in fourteen days. I would suggest the new board
discuss whether it is worth the expense to do that or not.
Ms. Lemieux stated she also spoke to town counsel about it and he also mentioned this at town
meeting but the Selectmen can deny any host community agreement. That is also an available
and acceptable means. Ms. Luck stated it did not pass at town meeting so it is kind of a moot
point.
Ms. Luck stated there was concern earlier about bringing food and drink in the auditorium. She
suggested making a standing rule that for town meeting you can bring in food and drink because
everybody would have left otherwise. That should not be an issue each time.
Mr. Toale stated there is a lot of room for improvement. Ms. Luck pointed out Mr. Alonzo had
suggested to ask the meeting at 4:00 p.m. if they want to continue or table it until the following
Monday. Then people won't feel like they are trapped. That is a very long time to be sitting.
Going forward that is something we should think about. There was a suggestion at town meeting
that the BOS begin now on a ten-year plan for staffing needs. Ms. Luck suggested it as an action
item.
===PAGE 28===
Action File Issues: Ms. Adams stated she got a message from the mother of a child that was
injured in a bad accident at the Walmart intersection on Route 2A. I know it is a state road, but
she wanted to know what she could do to start advocating for lighting improvements there. Ms.
Lemieux will direct her to the proper person.
4. Committee Reports
Ms. Luck reported the Central Mass Regional Stormwater Coalition is meeting tomorrow at
10:00 a.m. at the Lunenburg Public Library.
5. Department Reports- Quarterly Financial Report
This was tabled until the next meeting.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Dementia Friendly Kick Off Event at the Public Library- Monday, May 20th, 6- 7:30 p.m.
This will be the big kick-off event for announcing that Lunenburg is in the process of becoming
a recognized Dementia Friendly Community.
Recycling Education Campaign (TM Goal #1)
In our effort to address contamination in our recycling, we have been putting recycling education
tips on the Town Facebook page, the Lunenburg Ledger, in the ATM Warrant Booklet, on the
Town website, and an informational video on public access. To begin a more intensive
campaign, I would like to apply for MassDEP's Recycling IQ Kit Grant, where the goal is to
improve the quality of the recycling collected at the curbside by raising the "Recycling IQ" of
the residents using the curbside trash and recycling program. This intensive campaign would
include leaving "OOPS" tags on recycling bins that have items that are not recyclable as an
initial warning and then not accepting this recycling if the household continues to include items
that are not recyclable. It would also include an 8-week check on curbside recycling that will be
paid for with grant funds. The grant award is up to $20,000 and up to 40 hours of technical
assistance from our MassDEP Municipal Assistance Coordinator.
This type of campaign has had measurable success in other communities such as Lynn with a
marked decrease in contaminated recyclables. This will likely cause some upset residents if their
recycling is not collected due to having contaminated items, so I am asking for the Board's
endorsement before applying.
MRPC Walkability and Parking Study
Montachusett Regional Principal Planner Sheri Bean is currently working on collecting all the
traffic data, crash data, and an inventory of bike and pedestrian infrastructure (crosswalks,
sidewalks, signage, etc.) for the two focus areas for the Walkability and Parking Study. The next
meeting would be a public meeting to do a walk-through of these two areas to get the public's
perspective. The proposed date is the afternoon of June 1.
===PAGE 29===
competed the week of May 6.
All drainage work on the project is now complete.
Regional Animal Control Facility
I spoke with the Townsend Town Administrator and he relayed that the estimated cost for
the design of a Regional Animal Control Facility that was a result of the Regionalization
and Efficiency Grant was too cost prohibitive to move forward. I would ask that this be a
future agenda topic to discuss the next steps and a future plan for an Animal Control
Facility.
Department Head Meeting Updates:
Land Use Director: The Land Use Director relayed that the first hearing on the O'Brien Homes
development off Howard Street was continued until May 13. The original plan included 135
homes and this application includes 122 homes with 70 of the homes to be age restricted and also
includes the donation of 40 acres of land for conservation purposes.
Fire: The Fire Chief commended the new DPW Master Mechanic for completing a significant
amount of vehicle maintenance that needed to be done on the fire vehicles.
Library: The Library Director relayed that they recently filled a Library Assistant position that
is working out well and they will be filling two other vacancies soon.
DPW: The DPW Director stated they have done about $500,000 of paving in the last month and
he has been working on addressing a variety of projects at the Parks.
Cable: The Cable Manager said they are currently stretched thin with staff and filming meetings.
They are in the concept phase of a Community News Program that they hope to launch soon. A
new program called "Lunch Ladies of Lunenburg" will be launched in May and recently
recorded "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?"
COA: The COA Director has been working with the Memorial Day Committee and a ceremony
will be held on Memorial Day at Veterans Park at 10 a.m. The Senior Center will be open after
for coffee.
Assessors: The Assessors are working on the supplemental bills that will be sent out in June.
Treasurer-Collector: Taxes are due May 1 and notifications were put up on the sign at the Ritter,
the electronic sign, Facebook and the Town website.
Town Clerk: The Town Clerk stated she is getting ready for the Town Election.
Notice to Businesses about the Plastic Bag Ban
At my request, the Executive Assistant will be sending letters this week to grocery stores and
retail businesses in Lunenburg regarding the Plastic Bag Ban that will go into effect on June 1.
The ban affects grocery stores where more than 50% of the gross floor area is devoted to the sale
===PAGE 30===
I received notification that the District Local Technical Assistance application I submitted to
Montachusett Planning Commission to update our ADA Self-Evaluation was approved. We will
receive up to 200 hours of technical assistance and their staff will perform a self-evaluation at
both town and school buildings and town parks and recreation areas to review accessibility and
compliance with federal and state standards. This project will be complete by December 2019
and will result in a presentation of findings, recommendations, and next steps required to
complete the full ADA Self- Evaluation and Transition Plan.
MRPC is also currently advertising to hire a consultant through a RFP process to assist up to
three of its member communities to either develop or update an ADA Title II Transition Plan for
Municipal Public Rights of Way (PROW Plan). I expressed interest for Lunenburg to be one
of the three communities to benefit from such services and Principal Transportation Planner
George Snow responded that since Lunenburg is doing an ADA transition plan for other facilities
through DLTA and based on my participation in previous ADA meetings and my continued
interest in ADA Public Rights of Way (PROW) issues, MRPC felt that Lunenburg should be
included in this first round of ADA PROW Transition Planning. This will be a supplemental plan
to our ADA Self-Evaluation Plan that covers facilities and parks.
Use of'Space at the TC Passios Building:
Extended Day and Early Learning Programs: Dr. Burnham and I have worked out
having the Extended Day program return to the TC Passios beginning this summer and the
Early Learning Program (not the integrated preschool program) relocating to the TC
Passios beginning next school year.
Ms. Adams asked about safety issues being addressed if the building would be used by
students again. Ms. Lemieux reported she had a quote for surveillance cameras. She spoke with
John Londa about the leaded water and he stated they are evaluating that situation. Ms. Adams
requested a discussion about the building and items listed in the Vertex report needing attention.
Revolving Museum: I met with Jerry Beck of the Revolving Museum today to discuss the terms
of using the cafeteria space at the TC Passios in exchange for community art projects and
workshops. We have worked out most of the terms and need to finalize language with Town
Counsel, as well as meet with Dr. Burnham about the logistics and about community art projects
that would involve students.
===PAGE 31===
made it and delivered it to us in April. It is currently in the Town Hall attic. The next step is
look at the structural integrity of the bell tower and if it can be safely attached.
Meetings:
• Town Counsel will be holding monthly office hours on May 20 from Noon until 4
pm.
• I will be attending a Dispatch Negotiation Session on Wednesday, May 8.
Iam meeting with Kelly Brown from Department of Energy and Environmental
Resources, Karen Chapman of MRPC, the IT Director, and the contractor that has
worked on all the energy efficiency projects about the completion of the last project
on Thursday, May 9.
• I will be attending a MassToss meeting on Thursday, May 9 at 1 pm in Groton.
• I will be attending the Finance Committee meeting Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m.
Mr. Toale reviewed the upcoming meeting schedule and reminded all about the Town Election.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Chief Marino, in regards to the question posed about the Walmart intersection accident, stated he
would be looking into it. In the past, they have done letter-writing campaigns to address this. He
reported he would be meeting with Sheri Bean (MRPC) on Thursday for the traffic study.
He stated at the town meeting last year, the previous Town Manager sent him a text message
thanking everyone for working so hard with so little over the years. She said she realized that
now after moving on to work in a bigger community. Chief Marino stated he was touched by that
comment. He wanted the Board to know what they do on a day-to-day basis. A lot of it is
important because we try to make ourselves available to the public. We are managing up to
12,000 people, not to mention all the other people who come through town. I brought this up to
Ms. Lemieux for all of us as managers to better understand how we manage our time. I took
some time and put a word document on my computer, for a few days whatever I did, I described,
and time stamped it. He read from the log aloud from April 24t's log:
7:25 a.m. Arrived at work and changed into my uniform, checked in with the desk officer,
7:37 Checked in with the public safety coordinator, we had issues with payroll, there was a
lengthy discussion
8:10 Checked in with the lieutenant; lengthy discussion regarding computer issues,
8:20 Reviewed capital items, organized quotes for duty and body armor
8:35 IT was on premises for discussion about computer problems, discussion about security
cameras at the school and issues with monitoring cameras in the cruisers
8:46 Public safety coordinator was back in my office regarding payroll issues
8:50 Back to work on quotes
===PAGE 32===
11:29 Call from vendor regarding a quote for handguns
11:35 Heading to Town Hall to speak to payroll coordinator
12:20 Lunch
1:06 Meeting with representative to discuss new cruiser purchases/equipment
2:45 Meeting adjourned
2:46 Answered emails
3:00 Meeting with Ruth White from ROAR
3:15 Ordering parts for one of the rifles
3:51 Call from GM regarding the key fob
4:21 Call ended and went home to bake for coffee with the Chief the next day
That is a typical day in my world. It sounds like minutia but it's all really important stuff. When
a citizen comes to the lobby unless I'm in a meeting, I don't turn them away. My door is always
open and I think we all should do that. That's why we are in public service. Thank you for letting
me share.
Tom Alonzo, 284 Lancaster Avenue, as afar as the evaluation, I want to commend all the people
on the Board, especially the Chair, putting everything together, getting four separate reports. It is
very difficult to put everything in the composite. Getting the right form and what you should
have on it, whether it's numbers or narrative, 1 argue that you need both because without one or
the other it is very difficult to evaluate year to year. I think there were a lot of great points
brought out and how we can work with this even with Open Meeting Law because I think Ms.
Luck brought up a great point in her beginning comment. How does a member know without
seeing the others if it is an accurate composite? There has to be a way to do this and I look
forward to working on it. But I really want to applaud everybody because it is time consuming.
The second thing is the questions not getting on the ballot. I appreciate it being discussed as an
action item; I take it incredibly seriously. It was a very serious problem and I think undermined a
lot of people's confidence on what to expect. I applaud Town Manager for taking responsibility
and I think people are owed a report about what should have happened and what did happen to
serve two purposes. More importantly, everyone who had a hand in that knows their role going
forward. There should be a full investigation so people know the Board took it seriously.
Ms. Adams suggested having the ballot in front of us before it gets signed off on and have some
type of process where we are double-checking.
Motion: D. McQuaid
2nd: P. Luck
To enter Executive Session under M.G.L. C. 30A, § 21(a), PARAGRAPH 2: To conduct strategy
sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel or to conduct collective
bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union personnel (Town Manager) and to
adjourn afterwards Vote: Ms. Adams-aye, Ms. Luck-aye, Mr. McQuaid-aye, Mr. Toale-aye
The meeting adjourned at 10:17 p.m.
===PAGE 33===

========================================================================================
DOCUMENT : 2019-05-14-agenda-5141.txt
BOARD    : select-board
DATE     : 2019-05-14
KIND     : agenda
OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/select-board/2019-05-14-agenda-5141.txt
TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05142019-5141
========================================================================================

===PAGE 1===
 
                                    BOARD OF SELECTMEN 
Tuesday, May 14, 2019 
  6:00 PM – Town Hall 
     Bilotta Meeting Room, Second Floor 
AGENDA 
 
In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law, please be advised that this meeting is being 
recorded and broadcast over the Lunenburg Public Access channel. 
 
 The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are those reasonably anticipated by the 
Chair. Votes may be taken as a result of these discussions. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other 
items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law. 
 
6:00 PM  CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER 
 
6:00 PM  ENTER EXECUTIVE SESSION:  Motion to enter into Executive Session and to re-enter Open Session 
after exiting 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). 
 
7:00 PM  RE-ENTER OPEN SESSION 
 
7:00 PM  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 
 
I. PUBLIC COMMENT 
 BOARD 
 PUBLIC 
 
II. ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
III. APPOINTMENTS  
     7:05 PM Entertainment License for Lunenburg Arts Festival- Cultural Council-June 8/Raindate June 9 
     7:10 Quarterly Financial Report – Finance Director Karen Brochu 
                         
IV. INTERVIEWS/APPOINTMENTS/ RE-APPOINTMENTS/ RESIGNATIONS 
 
V. OLD BUSINESS 
1. Town Manager Performance Review and Announcement of Town Manager Annual Increase 
 
VI. CURRENT BUSINESS  
1. Authorization to sign MOU for Green Communities Planning Assistance Grant 
2. Minutes/ Warrants/ Action File Issues 
3. Committee Reports   
4. Department Reports 
 
VII. TOWN MANAGER REPORT 
 
VIII. UPCOMING MEETING/EVENTS SCHEDULE 
May 21, June 4, 2019 
May 18, 2019 Annual Election Day 
===PAGE 2===
  
IX. PUBLIC COMMENT 
 PUBLIC 
 BOARD 
 
X.  ADJOURN

========================================================================================
DOCUMENT : 2019-05-14-minutes-5141.txt
BOARD    : select-board
DATE     : 2019-05-14
KIND     : minutes
OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/select-board/2019-05-14-minutes-5141.txt
TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05142019-5141
========================================================================================

===OCR macOS Vision===
===PAGE 1===
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
===PAGE 2===
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
===PAGE 3===
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%).
===PAGE 4===
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
===PAGE 5===
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.
===PAGE 6===
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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.
===PAGE 7===
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
===PAGE 8===
WAAAAAHS
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.
===PAGE 9===
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
===PAGE 10===
• 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
===PAGE 11===
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

========================================================================================
DOCUMENT : 2019-05-21-agenda-5160.txt
BOARD    : select-board
DATE     : 2019-05-21
KIND     : agenda
OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/select-board/2019-05-21-agenda-5160.txt
TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05212019-5160
========================================================================================

===PAGE 1===
 
                                    BOARD OF SELECTMEN 
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 
  7:00 PM – Town Hall 
     Bilotta Meeting Room, Second Floor 
AGENDA 
 
In accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law, please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broad cast 
over the Lunenburg Public Access channel. 
 
 The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair. Votes may be 
taken as a result of these discussions. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up 
for discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law. 
 
7:00 PM  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 
 
I. PUBLIC COMMENT 
 BOARD 
 PUBLIC 
 
II. ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
III.  REORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD 
 
IV. APPOINTMENTS  
                           
V. INTERVIEWS/APPOINTMENTS/ RE-APPOINTMENTS/ RESIGNATIONS 
Announcement of Resignations of Marc Luescher, Hannah Anderson (from 3 yr term), George Martin from Finance 
Committee 
Announcement of Appointments made by Finance Committee Appointing Committee of David Passios (3 yr term), Peter 
Beardmore (3 yr term), and Hannah Anderson (1 yr term) 
 
VI. TOWN MANAGER REPORT 
 
VII. OLD BUSINESS 
1. FY19 Board of Selectmen Goals 
a. Town Assets 
1. Present & Future Maintenance & Capital Replacement of All Town Assets 
                   b. Improve Public Satisfaction through Community Involvement and Public Outreach 
                   c. Increase Alignment with Committees Appointed by the Board of Selectmen 
 
VIII. CURRENT BUSINESS  
1. Review Timeline for finalizing FY20 Board of Selectmen Goals 
2. Review schedule of upcoming meeting agenda topics 
3. MPO Representative and Finance Committee Appointing Committee positions  
4. Minutes/ Warrants/ Action File Issues 
5. Committee Reports   
6. Department Reports 
 
IX. UPCOMING MEETING/EVENTS SCHEDULE 
June 4, June 11, June 18, 2019 
  
X. PUBLIC COMMENT 
 PUBLIC 
 BOARD 
 
XI.  ADJOURN