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A number of residents attended Tuesday morning's meeting of the Prudential Committee, some voicing a need for better transparency.

Dalton Fire District Tries to Clarify Prudential Committee Role

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — Prudential Committee Chair Daniel Filiault straight off clarified at Tuesday morning's meeting that the board would not be discussing a requested forensic audit requested by Fire Chief Christian Tobin. 

Tobin was suspended earlier this month over allegations of sexual harassment, grant overspending, and "employee concerns."

The agenda posted on Aug. 15 included two items: general business and a discussion of the duties of the Water Commissioners and Prudential Committee. A number of residents attended the 10 a.m. meeting at the Stationery Factory, some voicing a need for better transparency.

When asked if there will be an opportunity for the public to hear decision-making on the audit, Filiault  said it would be up to the Water Commissioners and it is not a part of what the Prudential Committee does.

Tobin has accused the commissioners of illegal wages and hour practices, unlawful public meetings, improper safety practices, employee medical and respiratory protection, the misuse of district credit card funds, falsification of records for personal or others' benefit, and other allegations.

"This meeting is solely for the purpose of discussing the duties of the Water Commission and the Prudential Commission and how we interact," Filiault said, adding that there was a Monday email sent out "full of inaccuracies" that included discussion of the forensic audit.

"The forensic audit, that is not a subject that is being discussed today. It was not on the agenda. It will not be discussed."

Resident Don Davis was "very confused about a lot of things," including the duties of the committee.

"I appreciate what everybody's done over all the years and everything but it seems like over the last few years, there's definitely some sort of a problem within the district," he said.

"And I think that we as citizens really need to understand there's a lot of very alarming issues that the citizens really should know about and understand it's kind of a status quo."

According to the bylaw:

"The Prudential Committee shall collect (through the Treasurer's Office), have charge of and expend, according to the order of the District, all moneys raised by taxation; shall, subject to the order and approval of the District purchase and sell real estate; and shall approve or disapprove the items in the budget submitted to it by the Board of Water Commissioners and authorize the expenditure of the amounts therein set forth as approved by it. It may authorize the Treasurer to expend the money of the District in accordance with and subject to the approval of the District, or in accordance with and up to the limits set by the budget previously approved by it and may authorize the Treasurer to borrow money in anticipation of fees to be received on account of the use of water supplied by the District."

The meeting was called after discussions with Board of Water Commissioners Chair James Driscoll. He explained on Tuesday that this aims to ensure that the interaction between the two bodies is workable and will be able to get things done.

"And we just wanted to have this meeting to determine what core parts of this that the Prudential Committee would like to do or would like to leave as it has been," Driscoll said.

"Prudential Committee, historically, has passed the budgets that the Water Commissioners have set up through the department heads, and they are briefed on the budget, and then they okay the budget, and that is the budget that goes to the voters," he said.

"They have been instrumental in looking at any of the financial situations with the district, as far as loans, things like that, is part of what we have our meetings with the Prudential Committee for so that being said, all we wanted to do is get together and make sure that we're both on the same plane."

Filiault noted that a similar meeting has been held in the past and it is "not an unusual act." He feels "very fortunate" to have two longtime members of the committee present who can attest to how it is run: Thomas Murray and Richard Olsted.

In Murray's opinion, the bylaws determine that the water commissioners are in charge of day-to-day operations and come to the committee for finances. .

"My understanding is that it has always been very clear: except for financial questions, the Prudential Commission does not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the Fire District," Filiault said, explaining that he has stepped up to help with issues over the past year as an individual and was not acting a member of the commission.



Driscoll said that as long as the bodies are in agreement that they will operate as they have been according to the charter and bylaws, he is "quite happy and looking forward to working with the Prudential Committee from here on out."

Water Commissioner Michael Kubicki agreed.

"In the past, it's always been a good relationship," he said.

"My understanding when I [was] elected to this position was the water commissioners ran the day-to-day, developed the budget, discussed the budget with the Prudential Committee, and the Prudential Committee had their input or any questions if they had anything that was a concern to them, and we operated under those guidelines."

Former fire chief James Peltier was put on administrative leave last year and then fired. He attended the meeting and asked why the committee was represented in his discipline if it was only supposed to be dealing with financial items.

It was explained that the Prudential Committee can go to any meeting it wants to.

"I'm speaking for several people that couldn't make it to this meeting because it was inconvenient during the day," Peltier said.

"What they're looking for is transparency."

There was a back and forth between him and Filiault, who alleged he was getting off the meeting's topic and said, "we're done."

"You may talk about anything that has to do with the correct duties of the water commissioners and the Prudential Committee," Filiault said.

"I do not want any more discussions about previous meetings or actions by the board in the past because it has nothing to do with today's agenda."

Water Commissioner Camillus Cachat said he has been on the board for nine years and it has operated well during that time.

"Everything that the board's done has been open to the public," he said.


Tags: fire district,   water commission,   

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Joint Transportation Panel Hears How Chapter 90 Bill Helps Berkshires, State

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
BOSTON — A bill proposed by Gov. Maura Healey would bring $5.3 million more in state Chapter 90 road aid to the Berkshires.
 
Testimony before the Joint Committee on Transportation on Thursday (held in person and virtually) pointed to the need to address deferred maintenance, jobs, infrastructure battered by New England winters and climate change, and communities burdened by increasing costs. 
 
"I know that transportation funding is so, so important. Infrastructure funding is so integral to the economy of the state," said Healey, appearing before the committee. "It's a challenging topic, but we took a look at things and think that this is a way forward that'll result in better outcomes for the entirety of the state."
 
The bill includes a five-year $1.5 billion authorization to enable effective capital planning that would increase the annual $200 million Chapter 90 aid by $100 million.
 
More importantly, that extra $100 million would be disbursed based on road mileage alone. The current formula takes into account population and workforce, which rural towns say hampers their ability to maintain their infrastructure. 
 
"This is an important provision as it acknowledges that while population and workforce may be elastic, our road miles are not and the cost of maintaining them increases annually," said Lenox Town Manager Jay Green, who sat on the Chapter 90 Advisory Group with transportation professionals and local leaders. "This dual formula distribution system addresses community equity by assisting municipalities that do not normally rank high using the traditional formula that is a large number of miles but a small population and often a bedroom community.
 
"These are rural communities with limited ability to generate revenues to augment Chapter 90 funds for their road maintenance."
 
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