Selectboard Members Present: Selectboard Chair; Alan Genovese (AG), Keith Ross (KR)
Others Present: Todd Dexter (TD), Matthew Dorgan (MD)
Highway Dept: Bruce Kilhart (BK,) Vern Bass (VB) , Highway Commission Chair; Kevin Alden (KA)
- CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Alan Genovese called the Selectboard meeting to order at 5:09p.m.
Kevin called Highway Commission to Order at 5:10pm
- ANNOUNCEMENTS and INTRODUCTIONS
AG had each individual introduce themselves and reviewed the process of the interview. The candidate would talk a little bit about themselves and then it would be open to members to ask questions. The candidate would then have the opportunity to ask questions.
- MEETING MINUTES OF SCREENING COMMITTEE MEETING
The minutes of the November 28th were available as well as the Executive session minutes but were not acted upon.
- CITIZENS CONCERNS: No citizens made comments
- INTERVIEW HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT FINALIST – MIKE TRUEHART
Mike Truehart – Back-up Documentation attached
Mike Truehart made the following points:
Longtime resident of neighborhood. Lives in Royalston. Lots of heavy truck driving. Worked for Highway in Royalston for 4 years. Heavy equipment, repair, travel current work. Has limited road grating experience. Worked on cars and trucks for repair. Troubleshooting on repairs for equipment and vehicles. Computer skills are basic but is developing skills on a diagnostic computer. Excel skills are minimal. MassWorks experience is not direct. Has done grants in the past but has not done a complex grant such as Chapter 90. Prefers to meet crew and see who he is working with. Does have an understanding that business is business and lines have to be drawn with co-workers. He recognizes that is it important to build relationships and communication.
First few weeks: he would observe and get acclimated for the first few weeks and see how things run. He would do a lot of observing and ask questions.
Some of the questions asked were:
-Would like to see staffing needs met? Mike would ideally like to see 4 crew members Kevin responded they are working on getting the staffing shortage corrected.
-Did you outsource certain jobs? – Mike responded Work was mostly done by the Department however he would contract with vendors, for example to bring in fill (Porter Trucking) as needed on various jobs.
Among General Conversations that ensued:
-Pay range and timeline for availability
-Potential Capital planning
-Works directly with the Highway Commissioners on a routine basis
-Budget work that will need to be done with the Highway Commissioners
-Position is Exempt and items to be negotiated are Base Pay, Over Time, Comp Time
-Compensation/Hiring/Firing are administrative decisions that are made with the Highway Commissioners who makes the recommendation to the selectboard.
- DELIBERATIONS:
Members began sharing their thoughts about the candidate.
- Communication skills during interview were direct and appropriate
- Did a good job sharing his general background
- Submitting payroll and basic administrative oversight responsibilities
- Has a significant number of skills repairing equipment
- Will to develop his computer skills for example taking courses
- Would do a lot of observing in his first few weeks to understand the scope of the position
- Seems generally interested in the position
- There was concern about his lack of computer skills, limited experience on the Grater, inexperience with grant writing, doesn’t seem to have the skills that exceed someone that he would be supervising, he appeared to be well suited for fieldwork rather than in a supervisory capacity
TD – indicated he had the opportunity to work with Mike in Royalston. Interactions on a business level where Mike was always very courteous and respectful. He is easy to communicate with and possessed the skills to be successful in his position.
After more general discussion it was the consensus of the Highway Commission that they would not recommend moving this candidate to the Selectboard. KA will inform the candidate he is not moving forward in the hiring process. KA will also reach out to David Young to run another Ad for both a Laborer, and a Highway Superintendent.
Additionally, it would be helpful to have a sign at the Fire station informing people of the open positions. AG said that Chief Shoemaker was going to check with Orange and BK said he was working on getting one from Athol.
- ADJOURNMENT:
KR MOVED to adjourn at 6:27p.m. AG SECONDED. Motion UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED. 2-0-0.
VB MOVED to adjourn at 6:28p.m. BK SECONDED. Motion UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED. 3-0-0.
Respectfully submitted, Tracy Styles