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Selectmen name liaison, push for updated policies and background checks at senior center
Summary
After disputes over a planned program, selectmen named a liaison for the Council on Aging, agreed to update a facility-use form from 2011, and reaffirmed volunteer background checks and limits on social media announcements.
Selectmen said they will tighten coordination with the Council on Aging, update the senior center's facility-use paperwork and reinforce volunteer background checks after public concern about a planned program.
During discussion of long-running friction among the Council on Aging, the senior center director and the Friends of the Council on Aging, a selectman identified himself as the new liaison to the center and said he will ask the center to report monthly to the Board of Selectmen with upcoming events and activities. The board also agreed to avoid unmoderated Facebook posts and to post only formal announcements online.
The selectman who said he is serving as liaison told the board he has been meeting with Courtney, the senior center director, and with Marybeth and Friends representatives to clarify roles and responsibilities. He said the board found an older user-agreement form dated February 2011 that contains more of the liability and waiver language the town needs and directed staff and Council on Aging representatives to update it. He asked that the updated form include standard waivers and any insurance or liability requirements.
Courtney, the senior center director, said she already conducts criminal-background checks for volunteers and for anyone working in the kitchen and that she is in the process of updating records. She told the board she could not find a current written facility-use policy in her office files and welcomed the board's work to restore and update the signed user agreement that Marybeth found.
During the meeting Selectmen and Council on Aging members discussed youth-protection training and background checks for adult volunteers where programs involve children. One selectman said his experience with national scouting organizations required annual youth-protection training and that the town should avoid any gaps that could expose children to risk. He said he would press for clear policies and a documented process when events involve minors.
Board members said the Friends of the Council on Aging should coordinate with the director and the liaison and that the director or a Friends representative should attend selectmen meetings monthly to make brief announcements about upcoming events. The board also requested that the updated facility-use form be circulated to the selectmen for review.
No formal disciplinary action was taken; the discussion focused on clarifying roles, improving documentation and coordinating communications to reduce public confusion.
