Warning given about meeting behavior

By Dave Fidlin

Correspondent

A July 23 special meeting of the Town of Waterford’s Sanitary District No. 1 (WSD) began with a stern reading of the commission’s policy on public comments. The three-person commission overseeing WSD operations places its policy on public comments on each agenda.

After a heated exchange occurred July 10 between commissioner Ricky McNeiley and WSD administrator Debbie Nelson at the regular monthly meeting, Chairman Dan Dickinson read out the entire policy, word for word, when the commission met in special session July 23.

The policy notes that commissioners may receive limited information from district residents and property owners at a meeting, but will take no action, and they have discretion to allow public comments on items on a meeting agenda.

Dickinson followed up his reading of the policy with further comments.

“Staff is not part of the commission,” Dickinson said. “They cannot speak unless authorized to do so. If there is a persistent problem, a staff person will be ordered to leave the meeting.”

Nelson asked whether she could speak to the issue, and Dickinson said she could not. When Nelson made a further attempt to comment, Dickinson abruptly cut her off.

“This is your first warning,” he said to Nelson.

Nelson and McNeiley sparred verbally at the July 10 meeting about WSD’s new key issuance policy for employees.

McNeiley had been tasked with issuing keys as part of a security upgrade, and Nelson complained it was flawed because a part-time employee, who did not have access to WSD facilities, was unable to get in to work July 5.