LITTLETON BOARD OF SELECTMEN

WORK SESSION MINUTES

LITTLETON OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM

AUGUST 16, 2006

Present: Chairman George Hicks, Selectman Burt Ingerson, Selectman Ed Farrell, Interim Town Manager Tony Mincu, Executive Assistant Cheryl Sargent

Chairman Hicks opened the work session at 4:00 pm. Tony requested to speak with the Board in non-public session for the purpose of discussing a personnel issue (RSA 91-A3). Selectman Ingerson moved to go into non-public. The motion was seconded by Selectman Farrell and carried 3-0. Each Board Member was polled, all agreeing to move into non-public session.

At 4:15 pm., Selectman Ingerson moved to leave non-public session. The motion was seconded by Selectman Farrell and carried 3-0. the Members were polled, all agreeing to come out of non-public session.

Chairman Opened the work session at 4:17 pm.

Finance Administrator Karen Noyes presented copies of the Town Budget current through August 10, 2006. The bottom, line shows 30% of the budget remaining with a little less than half a year to go. She stated she would be asking DRA to allow the Town to overspend the Budget in certain areas to get through the remainder of the year. She advised the Selectmen that the cost of heating fuel is up by 29% and gasoline up by 13.2%. Several Departments, especially Fire and Highway have had huge unexpected repairs to equipment. The Welfare budget will be going over as well in certain categories and this is beyond the Town’s control. The legal budget has been over expended and Karen believes it will need at a minimum at least another $10,000 added to it. All Department Heads have been asked to review their individual budgets to identify any money which can be added to the overall budget. This will be discussed at the next Department Head Meeting. They have also been asked to notify her of any areas in their individual budget which they feel will be going dangerously over budget and to explain why. All in all, she stated the Town’s Budget is in a dismal state. She would like to contact DRA no later than September 15^th for permission to go over budget.

Chairman Hicks recognized Tom Kennedy, Carrie Gendreau, Art Tighe, Dan Cullen and Louis Babin from the Citizens’ Advisory Sub-committee. He thanked the subcommittee for the recommendations they have forwarded to the Board. He stated, that in his opinion, the recommendations are reasonable and constructive.

Tom Kenney noted he had given the Town Manager a copy of the most updated standard manual. He also distributed handouts (see attached) consisting of RSA105:2-a, a sample Chief of Police Job Description, Performance Evaluation guide, Crime Prevention and Community Involvement guide, Community Policing guide and a guide for handling public information.

He advised the Selectmen they must be sure that the job descriptions of the PD personnel adequately describe the jobs being performed by the department staff. He added the Selectmen have the authority to set the framework under which the Police Chief runs his department. There should be clear performance expectations and evaluations. This should be done on a frequent routine basis and not just once a year.

He implored the Selectmen to listen to the Community and stated he could not stress this enough. In talking with various member of the general public, almost every one has stated to the Subcommittee members that there is a serious feeling of disconnection between the Community as a whole and the Police Department. A community of this size needs to have a visible Police Chief and this would set a good example for the rest of his staff. He added that exit interviews with departing employees can provide a wealth of information which could be used constructively. There must be open and ongoing communication with the Police Chief.

Chairman Hicks stated he has never personally tried to micro-manage the various Departments in Town but has relied on the Town Manager to keep him informed on the various Department and what is going on with them. He stated he felt this was the proper chain of command to follow. Mr. Kennedy stated this is the proper thing to do as long as the communication is flowing back and forth.

Tony noted he has re-instated the practice of Department Head Meetings as of this week and these meetings will occur regularly on a bi-weekly basis unless there is a need to meet more frequently. In addition to this, the Administrative Staff of the Town office is meeting on a weekly basis. Also, one of his first actions as Town Manager was to get the evaluation process started and Department Heads have been told they must complete these no later than September. These evaluations will be due next year and every year after that in July rather than the employees anniversary date to make the process easier to keep track of. The Police Department evaluations may fall into a somewhat difference category because of the Standards.

Bruce Hadlock told the Selectmen they have the authority to stop all overtime and should be using that authority and anyone who violates this should be terminated.

Tony advised Bruce that he has already put a freeze on all administrative overtime at the PD. The Police Chief has been told he has a limited amount of money to spend on overtime ($4000) and he must use it sparingly because once it’s gone, there is no other available funds for overtime. Tony added that due to the nature of the business, overtime cannot be eliminated completely in the PD. He added he has also mandated that all time sheets be personally signed by the Chief and not rubber stamped as they have been in the past. The Police Department is the only Department, to his knowledge, which has ever submitted time sheets which were rubber stamped. It is the job of every Department Head to personally review and sign each time sheet.

Mr. Kennedy stated the sub-committee has focused on the need for the Chief to have more community involvement. The community wants to see the Chief. There are ways to make the PD more visible to the public. The Chief should spend some time on Main Street every day. The population of the Town warrants the Chief should be a working Chief and should not spend forty hours behind a desk in a closed office. When there is an officer available he or she should be placed at the crossing in front of the Lakeway Elementary School. Mr. Kennedy stated it does not have to be every day but that even an occasional presence of a police officer would act as a deterrent.

Selectman Ingerson stated the Town began using civilian crossing guards at the School when the Selectmen became recipients of many complaints of speeding violations and officers were put on patrol to handle the speeding complaints.

Louis Babin noted there are grants available from the NH Highway Safety Agency which could be utilized by the Town for enhanced patrol work. He would be willing to work with the Town to see if this can be implemented for the town of Littleton. Selectman Ingerson stated this would be great if we could qualify for some grant money to enhance the resources at the PD.

Bruce Hadlock told the Selectmen they have to exercise more control over purchases made by the Departments. He does not feel the Selectmen are aware of what the Department Heads are buying.

Dan Cullen noted the Chief should have a more cooperative attitude by trying to find a way to get things done rather than simply saying a certain thing is not possible. He should be willing to find a way to work together to accomplish a common goal. He stated he also feels there should be an increased public presence of the Chief as this is very important to most of the community members the sub-committee has spoken to.

Louis Babin said he would like to see the School Resource Officer’s job description re-written. He feels this officer is a resource which could be used more on Main Street. He has a great rapport with the kids at school and this could be carried over onto Main Street during the summer months if only for a couple of evenings a week.

Art Tighe stated he has been very disappointed the Chief has not made more of an effort to attend some of the Civic events in Town. The organizations would be thrilled to see him at their meetings. Selectman Ingerson asked Art if he has been invited to these meetings. Art stated he has personally invited him to some meetings and he has attended only one. Art would like to see the Selectmen start a list of weekly contacts for the Chief. He added communication with the public needs to happen now.

A third-party impartial management study still needs to be done at the Police Department and Tom stated he hopes the voters will vote affirmatively on this issue when it comes before them again at Town Meeting.

In closing Mr. Kennedy stated he personally resents the amount of overtime which has been expended by the Administrative Office of the PD when there are officers who put their lives on the line everyday and so little overtime has been expended for them.

The meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted, __________________________

Cheryl Sargent Selectman Burton E. Ingerson

Executive Assistant

__________________________

_____________________________ Selectman Edward Farrell

Chairman George O. Hicks