Foxborough Town Manager’s Top Objective is to Develop Effective Sewer Strategy

Foxborough Town Manager Kevin Paicos' top priority over the course of the coming year, according to the selectmen, is to work with the town's Water and Sewer and other departments to develop an effective sewer strategy and expand programs.

Paicos was presented a list of 22 goals and objectives he has to meet over the course of the year at Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting. The top two were related to the town's need to address its water and sewer issue. The list, which includes 29 total goals and objectives (seven of those goals are for the board of selectmen), was comprised by selectman Lorraine Brue.

Brue polled each member of the board, Paicos and the town's finance director, Randy Scollins to rank the 29 goals and objectives by priority. Everyone, with the exception of the board's vice chair, Mark Sullivan, agreed Paicos working with water and sewer to develop an effective sewer strategy and support the department's efforts to maximize revenue productivity from signage along Route 1 were of the highest priorities in town.

Sullivan ranked each of those objectives with a 3-out-of-5 rating – five being the highest priority.

The two goals that generated the most discussion during the 17-minute review were holding department heads responsible for employee actions and Paicos resuming his submission of monthly Town Manager reports.

Paicos said the selectmen's goal for him to hold department heads responsible for employee actions, which ranked third on the list is an "important thing" for him to do but he doesn't know how the board can legally monitor the progress of that goal being reached.

"You don’t hear me [being] critical [of department heads or employees] and that’s because I don’t do that in public," Paicos said. "But I assure you that I do it ... sometimes formally and sometimes informally. The tricky part is I can’t tell you about that because the Strong Manager Act creates a clear prohibition between the [Board of Selectmen] getting involved in the day-to-day stuff, including discipline of an employee and the town manager’s role to do it.

"A lot of times you don’t know when I’m doing it because I can’t tell you. I don’t know how to fix that and communicate that to you. … But I will tell you it happens all the time."

The board understood Paicos’ reasoning.

"We appreciate your [explanation]," Board of Selectmen chair James DeVellis said.

DeVellis added to the list of goals that he would like to see Paicos resume Town Manager Monthly Reports, which stopped being produced this past spring. Paicos said while the concept of the report "is a great idea" he called the expectation of it "unrealistic" due to other demands of the job.

"Frankly, I don’t have the time during the day to [write the report] and get my other work done," Paicos said. … "I needed some help and asked Lorraine [Brue] for a suggestion and she came up with a great suggestion."

That suggestion, according to Paicos, is to include a comment section under each of the 22 goals and objectives he has been tasked with and report monthly on the progress of those goals.

"Every month I write some notes in that field about what I’ve done on that goal for the month,” Paicos said.

The suggestion sounded familiar to selectman Lynda Walsh.

"Didn't you already do that?" she asked.

Paicos said he did before transitioning to a much lengthier report, which varied from three to five pages each month. Walsh liked the idea of Paicos returning to the way he used to report.

"Writing in the comment line worked well,” Walsh said.

Another suggestion Paicos brought up with the board was the idea of including an item on each meeting's agenda that allows him to speak publicly on his goals – similar to the chairman's update that DeVellis provides each meeting.

"That would be the board’s opportunity to ask [about the progress of goals]," Paicos said. "That way, the board is getting this information in a timely manner and it is also getting out to the public. That might be a better system.”

The board agreed with Paicos’ suggestion and will move forward with adding Town Manager reports to future agendas.

Below is a look at each goal and objective for Paicos and the Board of Selectmen in 2012. The ranking system was on a scale of 1 to 5 with one being the lowest priority and five being the highest.

Goals and Objectives 2012

1. Work with Water and Sewer, others to develop effective sewer strategy and expanded program.
2. Support Water and Sewer’s efforts to maximize revenue productivity from signage on Route 1.
3. Hold department heads responsible for employee actions.
4. Gain a better understanding for all of the Strong Town Manager Act and explore whether it needs to be changed or abolished. (Board of Selectmen’s goal)
5. Work with Planning Board and Water and Sewer on future growth projections and impact.
6. Work with planning board for new economic growth; Route 1 growth; Town’s master plan and downtown zoning.
7. Continue to reduce health care expenditures.
8. Hire Human Resources director; Look into other advertising options and professional associations.
9. Work on strategy for maintenance and renovation of all town buildings and a strategy to build a new Town Hall.
10. Complete Fire and Police Departments overtime analysis.
11. Comply with contract terms of Town Manager and Finance Director; establish annual goals/performance reviews. (Board of Selectmen and Town Manager’s goal).
12. Route 1 development – monitor its impact, request quarterly update from Zoning subcommittee and the Planning Board.
13. Examine opportunities for additional revenue streams.
14. Identify opportunities for regionalization of services.
15. Determine Road repair plan and funding.
16. Target completion of union negotiations before contract expires.
17. Liquor license oversight and gain community participation through creation of Community Review Group. (Board of Selectmen goal).
18. Review three-year financial forecast of the town, working with the School Committee.
19. Work with Town Asset Review Committee to initiate sale of parcels.
20. Establish greater contact in town with citizenry office hours.
21. Implement succession planning for key roles.
22. Develop strategies for consolidation/streamlining service delivery by department.
23. Work toward municipal energy efficiency and renewable energy.
24. Establish Government Review Committee, standards of conduct and operating procedures for the Board of Selectmen. (Board of Selectmen goal).
25. Hold a joint meeting annually with board to review purpose and goals. Regularly read minutes and hold more meeting with Ad Com. (Board of Selectmen goal).
26. Hold a couple of public meetings for educational purposes. (Board of Selectmen goal).
27. Adhere to timelines for stadium events, provide direction to stadium Ad Com, prevent events from being rushed through with incomplete vital information.
28. Include Board of Selectmen member as observer in contract negotiations. (Board of Selectmen goal).
29. Develop Veterans Benefit during Deployment policy and by-law. (Board of Selectmen goal).

How They Voted

Each member of the Board of Selectmen, Paicos and Scollins ranked the 29 goals and objectives on a priority scale of 1 to 5 with five being the highest priority and one being the lowest. Below is a breakdown of how each person ranked each goal.