Conservation Commission Chair Resigns

GEORGETOWN – Less than two weeks after the Select Board and the Conservation Commission (ConCom) met to begin ironing out their differences, Select Board chair Amy Smith summoned Carl Shreder and Rachel Bancroft, the ConCom chair and vice chair, to a private meeting to tell them they should resign or “bad stuff would come out” about them.
Shreder, who has headed the conservation commission for 24 years, said he knew of nothing that would cause him to resign and Smith did not tell him what the “bad stuff” was.
But he resigned after months of resisting the pressure to step down from a few town officials and residents, including being forced to apologize for a joke town hall should be burned down. His resignation follows that of the Conservation Agent Steve Przyjemski, who resigned last January after working 17 years for the town because of a “hostile environment.”
“It wasn’t worth ruining my health,” Shreder said. “It’s outrageous.” Town boards are voluntary and unpaid positions appointed by the Select Board.
Bancroft, a veteran member of the ConCom, who was also elected to serve on the Select Board, was told by Smith she must resign either from the Select Board or the commission. She refused and told Smith she has two written opinions from the state Ethics Commission that she may serve on the two boards simultaneously.
Bancroft also told The Town Common she knew of nothing she had done and Smith did not tell her what would force her to resign. She suggested that the “bad stuff” could be made up by critics of the ConCom.
Smith did not respond to emailed questions about the private meeting, including why she wanted Shreder and Bancroft to resign.
In a possibly related development, the town’s Planning Board on Saturday voted to approve a special permit for the G. Mello Trash Disposal Corp. to build a 500-ton, per day transfer station. Both the board and the ConCom had voted to deny approval of the station, setting off months of conflict among the town boards and Mello.
The Board of Health has approved the construction of the controversial trash station.
Mello appealed the denials by the Planning Board and ConCom to the state Land Court, which recently overturned those decisions, sending the issue back to each board for approval. The ConCom has not yet voted to approve construction of the station.
Both Shreder and Bancroft, as ConCom members, voted not to approve Mello’s plans for the large station.
Smith asked Shreder and Bancroft to the private meeting to discuss a former employee, which according to Shreder and Bancroft was not true.
Shreder said, “I feel like a fool, having wasted such a big part of my life serving this town.” He said he volunteered to serve on the ConCom a quarter century ago because of his expertise and experience as an environmental safety officer. “I thought I could use my skills to benefit the town.”
The ConCom has been under intense pressure from members of the SelectBoard and some allies. In addition to Przyjemski’s resignation, which he blamed on Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco, the SelectBoard voted not to reappoint commission members Laura Repplier, who had served nine years on the commission, and Rebecca Chane, who had served six years.
After the last SelectBoard election, which brought two new members to the board and Smith became the chair, Chane was reappointed. Ida Wye, an experienced landscape designer, who was rejected by the previous SelectBoard was appointed to the board to replace Repplier.
Smith voted to reappoint Repplier and Chane and appoint Wye.
In recent weeks, the SelectBoard, with Smith as chair, hired a private detective firm, the Stirm Group, to investigate members of the ConCom. Pacheco earlier told The Town Common there was evidence of fraud committed by the commission, and the Stirm Group has demanded the commission members turn over their private emails for review.
Some members, including Bancroft, have refused to turn over the emails.
After weeks of investigation, including visiting the homes of members and Przyjemski, the Stirm Group has not produced evidence of fraud by commission members.
In another matter, the ConCom at its last meeting voted to hire Michele Grenier, a wetlands expert and veteran town conservation agent, to replace Przyjemski as the Georgetown conservation agent.
She begins Monday working 33 hours a week, which makes her eligible for benefits. Orlando said Georgetown will share Greiner with the town of Essex for about eight hours a week.