Highlights From Thursday's Sherborn Board Of Selectmen Meeting

Here are some highlights from Thursday night's Sherborn Board of Selectmen meeting, according to Selectmen chair Paul DeRensis:

Community Leaders Step Up To Help COA Director Juhl

The Board of Selectmen asked for help from other departments in finding an additional $7,500 to compensate Council on Aging Director Karen Juhl, who is underpaid by comparison to others who hold her position in similar communities, DeRensis said of last night's meeting, in an email.

"I have worked through the budget numbers looking for a way to get this done, and asked for contributions from many departments. At the BOS meeting last night, we had found and secured $3,000 out of the $7,500 necessary, I implored those there in attendance to contribute," DeRensis said.

According to DeRensis, Police chief Rick Thompson contributed $1,500 from his budget, Community Maintenance and Development director Ed Wagner offered $1,500 from his budget and the Advisory Committee voted to add the remainder of the $7,500.

"This is a wonderful display of community spirit, we came together from all different perspectives, to do the right thing for the good of the community; as a community we got this done," DeRensis said at the meeting.

Selectmen Divided On Finding Interim Town Administrator

None of the selectmen could find a common ground last night as to how to handle replacing recently resigned Town Administrator Dan Keyes.

Selectmen George Pucci wanted to appoint lawyer and former Sherborn selectmen Jim Murphy as the interim Town Administrator and felt strongly that the town should have a Town Administrator in place before Town Meeting, according to DeRensis.

Selectmen Tom Twining disagreed with giving Murphy the position and "objected to the lack of public process in selecting a town administrator, that it had the appearance of an inside job as nothing has been advertised, with the possible result of one of our own colleagues taking a plum job, and that he thought the best interests of the town was to secure an outside independent town administrator who could not only fill in the job but could evaluate the office to improve and make it more efficient, an outsider not being tied to particular ways of doing business," DeRensis said in an email.

DeRensis said he felt that the Town Administrator position should be reviewed altogether and felt that the job had been transformed into a Town Manager's position. 

"I wasn't prepared to appoint anyone to a position with the current description that had already been misinterpreted as we saw in the past," DeRensis said in an email.

DeRensis said that the board must come to a consensus on how to handle the situation before a decision is to be made.