Thomaston Board of Selectmen

9/1/26 6:00 pm

Present: First Selectman Rich Sileo. Selectmen Michael Burr and Beth Campbell.

The Town of Thomaston is closer to hiring its first Public Services Superintendent. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved a hiring agreement for the new position Sept. 1 on a motion by Campbell, second by Burr, and 2-1 vote after discussion with Burr casting the “no” vote.

The new position is a merger of the responsibilities of the Highway Superintendent and the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Superintendent roles and has been debated by the BOS since at least April. Burr has been the lone voice of dissent on the matter, noting he doesn’t agree with the move to shift the duties of two positions into a single role.

Sileo said the Town’s hiring committee for the position is ready to extend an offer to one of the applicants vying for the job.

“Since we last spoke, we have held an interview, gone through a suite of questions, captured their responses,” Sileo said. “Following the interview, the hiring committee stayed in place and scored the responses and felt comfortable that we should extend an offer.”

Sileo said he then drafted an employment agreement pulling pieces from other similar documents used for other Town employees. Nicholas Grello, the Town’s Labor Attorney, reviewed and amended the agreement, Sileo added.

Before approving the hiring agreement, Selectmen discussed how the position will be funded. Sileo said the salary will be split between WPCA and the Town.

“What they have budgeted for ’26-27 for the WPCA Superintendent is a portion of the salary,” Sileo said. “The remainder comes out of the salary that we were paying to the Highway Superintendent.”

Campbell noted the hiring agreement showed the WPCA would pay for matters like a clothing allowance and the cost of required certifications.

“We looked at what was currently being provided to the WPCA Superintendent in terms of clothing allowances and things like that,” Sileo said. “That will remain in the WPCA budget. Any certifications that are required will be paid for out of the Public Works budget. None of those things will exceed anything currently budgeted.”

Burr asked, “Going forward, what’s the breakdown between WPCA and the Town as far as salary goes?”

Sileo said, “We will need to discuss that at the next budget process to figure out the best way to handle this.”

In other business, the BOS considered metering electricity usage at the Thomaston Opera House, which is operated by the Landmark Community Theater nonprofit. Thomaston Maintenance Coordinator Joe Ouellette sought quotes at Sileo’s request. The first quote, provided by United Control Solutions (UCS), came in at $16,787. The second came from MJM at $20,454.

“United Control is actually going to use a technology that's a little bit older, which involves putting a specific type of induction donut on the wiring,” Sileo said. “Those induction donuts will use an older software technology that requires us to maintain a unique IP address for each and every one of those sensors

“So, it's a bit more complex to measure. It's also somewhat older technology in terms of what's being deployed,” he said. “I do intend to take this to the Board of Finance next week to discuss it.”

The MJM proposal, he added, will rely on a VerifEye monitor. Sileo said that is a different, newer type of meter. The software proposed by MJM is expected to produce cleaner reports more efficiently, Sileo said.

Also at the meeting, the BOS approved several tax refunds. The largest was $3,722.74 to CMC Holdings LLC and was approved on a motion by Campbell, second by Burr, and unanimous agreement.

The Board adjourned at 6:56 p.m. after a motion by Burr, second by Campbell, and unanimous vote in favor.

The BOS also was scheduled to meet Oct. 6, starting at 6 p.m.