Notes From Sherborn Selectmen's Nov. 10 Meeting

Here are some notes from the Sherborn Board of Selectmen's last meeting:

Town Hires Interim Town Administrator

At the beginning of their Thursday night meeting the Sherborn Board of Selectmen gave an impromptu introduction to the town’s new interim Town Administrator Jim Purcell.

Chair of the Board of Selectmen Tom Twining said the Town Administrator Search Committee would continue to interview candidates.

He said the Colins Institute, which recently conducted a study of the town’s municipal infrastructure recommended Purcell.

Purcell worked in municipal government for 36 years before retiring and teaching at the University of Massachusetts.

Purcell said he spent 28 of those years as either a town administrator or a town manager.

The last eight years of his career were spent as the town administrator of Norton and he is now wrapping up his two weeks as interim town administrator of North Andover.

Twining added that although the interview process is coming along, they thought it would be a good idea to have someone in place to get the town through the town meeting process.

Selectmen George Pucci said Purcell, “has no interest in a full-time position.”

“If you hate him, he’ll only be here a few months,” Pucci said.

Pucci also said that the candidates they will be interviewing are outstanding and everyone will be pleased with whomever they choose. 

Discussion of NSTAR

Also at Thursday’s selectmen meeting, the selectmen discussed NSTAR’s response to the October snowstorm, which left much of the town without power for several days.

Selectmen Paul DeRensis said NSTAR did not do an adequate job after Tropical Storm Irene and thought they would learn from that experience. “Then the same thing happened,” he said.

DeRensis believes they should have been prepared to bring in more crews from across the country.

Twining said there are many towns and cities considering class action lawsuits against NSTAR for their poor response.

Police Chief Rick Thompson said he believed there was, “extremely poor communication,” between NSTAR’s road crews. 

He said as a public safety official he did not like telling residents that he was unsure of when the electricity in the community would be back on.

Sherborn resident Andy Errico said NSTAR road crew workers told him they don’t like Sherborn because of the restrictions the town places on them.

Twining said he has had similar conversations with NSTAR road crews.

He added that Sherborn would have to work toward a better relationship with the company regarding letting them trim trees that overhang wires.