TOWNSEND — In a culmination of weeks of resident frustration, a crowded Special Town Meeting cast non-binding votes Tuesday advising selectmen to terminate the town administrator and town counsel and to reinstate a police sergeant and the police chief.
At the end of a meeting that also saw the approval of new medical-marijuana and solar bylaws, the voting body approved four articles, all of which were advisory in nature, on overwhelming voice votes. The articles suggest removal of Town Administrator James Kreidler, termination of town counsel, reinstatement of police Sgt. Randy Girard — who resigned during town counsel’s investigation — and reinstatement of Police Chief Robert Eaton, who has been on paid administrative leave since writing a statement last month criticizing the investigation as “strategic assassination” of his department.
Proponents of the articles said although the votes do not legally mandate any action, they were happy with the outcome and hope the votes will trigger a response from town officials.
“I think the townspeople have spoken,” said Joe Shank, who helped organize the movement that brought forward the four articles. “We have only one hope: that the selectmen will listen finally.”
Selectmen Chairwoman Carolyn Smart declined to comment following the meeting.
In a statement, Kreidler said he felt the articles were inappropriate.
“What we saw tonight were non-binding votes on personnel matters based upon incomplete and erroneous information in a forum where they had no business being discussed,” Kreidler said. “Regardless, a majority of voters in the building expressed their feelings and tomorrow morning bright and early I will be showing up for work on behalf of them and the other 9,500 residents in town as I’m charged to do.”
Selectman Cindy King initially asked the town moderator to block any discussion or vote on the four articles by arguing that they could not force any action and would likely open the town to liability for “defamation, libel, slander and invasion of privacy.”
Town Moderator John Barrett allowed the articles to go forward. He limited discussion on each to 15 minutes and made it clear that any vote would be non-binding.
Most resident comments were brief, and each topic remained within that allotted time. Some argued police actions that prompted town counsel’s investigations were done with good intentions, and others spoke to the character of Girard and Eaton when asking for them to return.
“(Eaton’s) character begs for him to be reinstated,” resident Todd Melanson said.
Tuesday’s meeting came after several tumultuous weeks in Townsend. A December announcement that town counsel was investigating allegations that police employees performed unauthorized background checks on private residents galvanized the town, prompting some vocal residents to defend police amidst what they saw as a “witch hunt.”
Girard resigned during town counsel’s investigation. In February, Eaton wrote a statement on the department’s Facebook page alleging that the town counsel investigation was a political move designed to smear police reputations and that a report from the state Department of Criminal Justice Information Services would soon exonerate his officers. Eaton was placed on leave soon after.
The DCJIS report he referenced, which was released by the town a few weeks later, found that Townsend police performed one background check “for no official criminal justice purpose” on an employee who was being hired in town.
That employee, Kreidler’s executive assistant Kelly Merrill, and Adam Cotty, with whom she has a relationship, have hired a lawyer and are likely to file a civil suit against the town, the attorney has indicated.
Before the four personnel-related articles were discussed, Town Meeting approved every other matter it considered. Most others dealt with budgetary matters, but two new bylaws were put into place.
An updated version of the ground-mounted solar bylaw was accepted, and a new medical-marijuana bylaw replaces the town’s moratorium on dispensaries or cultivation sites opening.
The new bylaw sets a legal framework within which any medical-marijuana company interested in opening in Townsend must operate. Registered dispensaries or cultivation sites can only be placed in industrially zoned areas — of which Townsend has few — and must be at least 500 feet away from any residential district, school, public bike path, establishment with a liquor license, drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility, or another medical-marijuana facility.
Planning Board Chairman Lance McNally said it was necessary to implement a bylaw and move away from a moratorium to ensure the town is fully protected.
“If we just didn’t have a bylaw and ignored it, someone could conceivably put one next to Hannaford,” McNally said. “We cannot zone out and make it impossible for someone to put such a facility in the town of Townsend. We cannot, by state law.”
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisLisinski.
