Conservation Commission Battle Boils Over

GEORGETOWN – The town’s Conservation Commission is closed, at least temporarily.
The last two members of the commission’s staff resigned as part of a continuing battle with the town administrator and other town employees over the commission’s future. The veteran conservation agent, who had protected the Georgetown wetlands for 17 years, left in January.
Carl Shreder, the commission chair, apologized during the Board of Selectman meeting last week that the usual permitting and procedures for residents and businesses would be much slower.
Administrative assistant Julie Cantara resigned last month because of negative comments from other Town Hall staff about the commission, Shreder told the Selectmen. Also gone is John Lopez, an environmental consultant, who left because he had not been paid in five months, Shreder said.
Commission member Tom Howland told the Selectmen, “We can’t continue without him (Lopez).”
Last January, Steve Przyjemski, the conservation agent, resigned because of a growing conflict with Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco. The administrator later accused the commission of engaging in fraud involving Przyjemski’s salary.
In an email, Pacheco wrote that he and the Board of Selectmen had to exercise more authority so “the vast payroll fraud and undocumented work hours that occurred previously has more controls over it. Please note while the Commission may refer to this as harassment, we are simply doing our job to protect taxpayers and follow the law.”
Shreder said he has seen no evidence of fraud in the compensation paid to Przyjemski.
None of the three staff positions have been filled. And the Town Administrator has hired a Newburyport firm to assess the needs of the ConComm staff.
BOS chair Amy Smith said, “My goal is to keep the trains running.” Later, she added, “The trains are piling up.”
She proposed a solution that the town hire a temporary administrative assistant that the ConComm could share with the Planning Department to answer telephone calls and receive applications from residents and businesses for town approval. Andrea Thibault, the administrative assistant for the Planning Board, is on leave.
The frustrated Shreder also apologized for his comments at the July commission meeting when he suggested that a good use of Town Hall would be to set it on fire as a training exercise for the fire department. He said his suggestion that the historic building be burned was meant as sarcasm.
Shreder blamed his frustrated comments on two years of enduring a toxic environment at Town Hall. “We need an HR (Human Resources) function,” he said.
The town has hired the Stirm Group in Newburyport to assess what staff the ConComm needs.
Tom Howard, an investigator, has sent letters to residents who have interacted with the Conservation Commission asking for information.
“The Stirm Group has been retained by the Town of Georgetown to assist them with conducting a needs assessment/review regarding the Town’s Conservation Commission position (which is currently an open position.)
Pacheco, who has said the workload for the commission does not warrant a full-time staff, confirmed to the selectmen that a needs assessment is on-going.