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HomeMy Public PortalAboutTA Report 05.13.19 Town of Brewster 2198 Main Street Brewster, MA 02631-1898 Phone: (508) 896-3701 Fax: (508) 896-8089 MEMORANDUM TO: Select Board FROM: Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator RE: Town Administrator Report DATE: May 13, 2019 Personnel We received a number of applications for the vacant Finance Director position by the April 15 submission deadline and are set to interview four candidates this week and next. The interview panel will consist of the Finance Team (Treasurer/Collector, Interim Finance Director, Assessor, and Assistant Town Administrators) as well as one member of both the Select Board and Finance & Advisory Committee. We are pleased with the quality of the candidate pool and are hopeful that this key position will be filled by the start of the new fiscal year to ensure a smooth transition. With Ellen Bearse’s departure late last month, the current Assistant Director, Mike Gradone, has been managing the Recreation Department for the past couple weeks. The internal posting for this position expired last Friday and Mike was the only applicant for the position. All of the feedback I have received about Mike has been very complimentary of his work and his performance evaluations have been exemplary. I met with Mike for an interview last week and was very impressed with his education and experience as well as his commitment to and vision for the Department. I met with the Recreation Commission earlier this evening and they were fully supportive of my recommendation to promote Mike to serve as our next Recreation Director. Over the next week, I will be extending an offer of employment to Mike and we will be advertising to fill the Assistant Director position as soon as possible, particularly with summer programming around the corner. With Nancy Ice set to retire in early August, I have been working with the Board of Health Chair Carmen Scherzo, Select Board member Mary Chaffee, and Assistant Town Administrator Susan Broderick on a process to fill the Health Director position. The Board of Health, as the hiring authority, plans to take up their review of an updated job description and proposed hiring process for this position at their meeting this Wednesday. At this time, that process would be open to both internal and external candidates and would include initial screening of the applicant pool by a Search Office of: Select Board Town Administrator Committee comprised of the BOH Chair, SB Liaison, myself and one or two Department Heads. The goal is for the Search Committee to present select finalists to the BOH for their consideration at their July meeting. After meeting with all of the Department Heads one-on-one over the past several weeks, I have organized them into leadership teams that will meet on a monthly basis going forward to work on issues of mutual interest. The teams are oriented as follows: Finance, Public Safety, Community Development, and Social Services. I have been incredibly impressed with the level of interdepartmental coordination already in place and believe that this approach will help to support and strengthen those relationships and lines of communication. Water Award Last week, our Water Department was recognized by MassDEP with a Public Water System Award for Outstanding Performance and Achievement in the Medium/Large Community System Category for 2018. Although their work in ensuring the delivery of the highest quality water to our residents is renowned, this is the first time that our Water Department has received this particular distinction under the Commonwealth’s Drinking Water Program. Kudos to Water Superintendent Paul Anderson and his entire team. Fire Safety Education Trailer Grant Earlier this month, Brewster Fire/Rescue announced it had accepted delivery of a new Fire Safety Education trailer that was funded through a $35,500 Federal Assistance to Firefighters Fire Prevention Grant, a $5,000 donation from the Brewster Fire/Rescue Association, and a 5% match of $1,775 from a Fire Department grant match funding article. The trailer includes numerous fire safety education props that will provide Brewster firefighters the ability to educate a school aged children and other age groups on smoke detector use, cooking safety, surviving a fire, crawling low in smoke, fall safety, 911 notification, and exit drills in the home. The department plans to utilize this unique fire safety educational resource to enhance the level of fire prevention awareness for Brewster residents. Financial Report Next week, our Finance Team is scheduled to meet with Department of Revenue staff who have been working over the past several months on developing recommended best practices in financial management for Brewster. This review will also include a series of financial policies for the Town to consider. Once the DOR report is finalized and approved, we will schedule a follow-up joint meeting with the Finance & Advisory Committee and Select Board to review its findings and discuss appropriate next steps. Vision Forum Last month, the Cape Cod Commission issued long-awaited draft guidance on municipalities seeking to prepare a Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP). Town staff met with Vision Plan Chair Hal Minis last week to discuss how this proposed master planning process fits into the work that we have already done on this front over the past few years and what it means in terms of moving forward with the Vision Forum concept. We are in the process of scheduling a follow-up meeting with CCC staff to provide our feedback on the guidelines as currently drafted in the hopes that most if not all of the process and work product that resulted from our Vision Plan can be utilized to satisfy their requirements. Once we have a better sense of the extent to which we will have to adapt those findings to satisfy the CCC’s minimum criteria for LCPs, we will then be able to determine the best approach to integrating the findings from the Vision Plan into the LCP and ensuring that those larger strategic planning efforts remain in the forefront. Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Our consultants for this initiative facilitated a public listening session on April 24 to solicit resident feedback on our draft Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Plan. The core planning team will be meeting again next week to prioritize action items and finalize our Plan based in part on this feedback. We will also be determining what projects to apply for when the solicitation for the next round of MVP Action grants is announced sometime later this summer. Potential projects that have resulted from this process vary from making local regulatory changes to initiating awareness campaigns and from updating related planning documents to investing in specific capital projects.