DIXFIELD – Two of three selectmen at Monday night’s meeting agreed to hire a fourth full-time police officer despite an objection to table the matter until a full board could meet.
Officer Matthew Noyes, who has been in training since September, got the nod to start full time on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Lobbying hard for the board to hire Noyes were Chairman Hugh Daley and Police Chief Richard A. Pickett.
“I have no problem with it,” Daley said. “I know he’s very energetic. I heard that from everyone I’ve talked to about him.”
Pickett said Noyes had passed his required psychological, medical and skeletal exams and had been doing “a real fine job.”
Over the past three weeks, Pickett said Noyes had been working 40 hours per week on trainee wages.
Noyes had also solved one burglary case that he had been investigating and appropriately resolved an operating under the influence arrest involving alcohol, drugs and a foot chase one night while doing a security check at Dirigo Middle School, Pickett added.
“I’m quite proud of him,” Pickett said.
While Daley and Town Manager Nanci Allard sought to quickly hire Noyes, for fear of losing him to another department like they did with their last trainee, Charles Beale, Selectwoman Sandra Buchanan wanted to wait.
On a prior personnel matter, Buchanan argued that the board chose to wait until absent Selectmen Eugene Skibitsky and Montell Kennedy could be present, but opted not to do so on the police matter.
Daley said the two matters were not similar.
Regarding the prior matter, Daley and Allard strenuously argued to reduce head librarian Peggy Malley’s 40-hour work week at Ludden Memorial Library to a 32-hour week.
“If I can save the town $4,000 and not cut any services, I will do it. We need to save every nickel we can possibly save. I’m in favor of 32 hours, (Malley) is for it, the town manager is for it and I think we should give it a chance,” Daley said.
“I’ve never known the public not to want to save money,” Allard said, noting that Malley had already been working a 32-hour week for past three months without objection.
Buchanan, who pressed for a full board to discuss the matter, said she wasn’t ready to change a mandate from town meeting voters who, in June, set a 40-hour work week for the head librarian.
Shirley Austin, a member of the library’s Board of Trustees, did not favor the move either.
“The townspeople voted in a 40-hour position, so if you want to change it, you should take it back to the voters,” Austin said.
But neither Allard nor Daley believed the town meeting vote was a mandate, therefore, the reduction didn’t need voter approval.
Allard also argued that Malley would still get all of her full-time benefits and that the 8-hour reduction would allow the town to hire more part-time help. Buchanan then objected to hiring twice as many part-timers.
“We worked really hard to get a full-time librarian in and the library is twice as large now as it was before. We’re all in favor of progress, but we’re not in favor of cutting Peggy’s hours back,” Austin added.
After agreeing that Skibitsky was against the notion, Daley reluctantly tabled discussion.
In other business, selectmen appointed Thomas E. Gould, James M. Black and Jarrod E. Wiswell as reserve police officers. They also followed the Finance Committee’s recommendation and appointed Scott Dennett to the committee, filling a vacancy.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
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