Clarksburg Has Plan to Replace Officials
 |
Last year's town meeting unanimously approved by floor vote making the tax collector, town clerk and treasurer all appointed positions. Voters will have to approve the issue a second time this year as a question on the town election ballot.
A proposal developed by Town Administrator Michael Canales to fold seven elected and part-time positions into three full-time appointed positions will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center. The PowerPoint presentation is available below.
Canales said at the Selectmen's meeting last Wednesday that the plan focuses on making Town Hall "customer-service oriented."
"It's not just about changing it from elected to appointed," he said. "It's a chance to create a very customer-oriented, very service-oriented Town Hall."
Currently, only the town administrator and administrative clerk work full days, Monday through Thursday. The town clerk, collector, treasurer and assessors each work different hours on different days, making it difficult for townspeople to get questions answered or services completed in a single trip.
For instance, the town clerk and the tax collector are only available one day a week — but not the same day and not always all day.
"What's the biggest complaint that you get?" asked Chairwoman Debra LeFave. "I went to Town Hall and nobody was there. I wanted to pay my taxes and nobody was there. I wanted a fishing license and nobody was there."
"As long as we're paying $8,000 or $10,000 [a year] these are never going to be primary jobs for somebody, they're always going to be secondary," he said. "You're always going to have to work around other jobs."
Changing the positions to appointments has been raised before but this is the first time the concept's gone this far. A petition was prompted this time by problems with sewer fee collections that forced taxpayers to foot a $30,000 increase to replenish the sewer fund.
Wednesday's presentation will be the first of several before the May election and officials will be seeking input from citizens and making changes based on the response.
Any changes would instituted as each official's term expired over the next couple years should voters eliminate the positions.
In other business,
■ Selectmen tabled a request by the Tietgens family to place a large family grave marker on a four-grave plot in the town cemetery. The base would be 96 inches and the stone 60 inches but cemetery regulations limit the size to 24 inches per plot or no larger than 48 inches. The regulations were established to create uniformity in the new section, said LeFave. "If we were to permit someone to put in a stone of that size, I don't see us turning down anyone else ... so we might as well throw the policy out the window."
Selectman Carl McKinney, however, said putting four separate stones on the plot would equal 96 inches and he wasn't ready to vote on the matter. They agreed to table the request until they could do a site visit at the cemetery this spring.
■ Canales reported the senior housing application survived the first stage of the federal grant process. The board also signed a consent decree with the state, agreeing that it would ramp up monitoring of the Senior Center well and move forward with finding a new water supply, which is expected to be the senior housing well.
■ Representatives from the state Riverways Program will be before the Conservation Commission on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m. for permitting on the removal of the Briggsville Dam.
■ The tax rate for fiscal 2010 was set at $10.10 per $1,000 valuation, up 7 cents from last year. Tax bills for the last two quarters were set to be mailed by this week. Those seeking senior exemptions should pick up application forms at Town Hall.
Selectman Carl McKinney, however, said putting four separate stones on the plot would equal 96 inches and he wasn't ready to vote on the matter. They agreed to table the request until they could do a site visit at the cemetery this spring.
■ Canales reported the senior housing application survived the first stage of the federal grant process. The board also signed a consent decree with the state, agreeing that it would ramp up monitoring of the Senior Center well and move forward with finding a new water supply, which is expected to be the senior housing well.
■ Representatives from the state Riverways Program will be before the Conservation Commission on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m. for permitting on the removal of the Briggsville Dam.
■ The tax rate for fiscal 2010 was set at $10.10 per $1,000 valuation, up 7 cents from last year. Tax bills for the last two quarters were set to be mailed by this week. Those seeking senior exemptions should pick up application forms at Town Hall.
