NEWS

Help wanted at Bourne Town Hall where several key jobs are open

Paul Gately
Special to Cape Cod Times

BOURNE – Bourne AdministratorMarlene McCollem will be working to fill several jobs in town government over the next few months, including an assistant town administrator and a police chief.

McCollem recently appointed an information technology director, who left the job this spring, and a human resources manager who decided not to work for the town after being unable to secure affordable living accommodations.

To hire a new police chief, McCollem has pressed ahead with setting up a professional assessment center program to evaluate job applicants and help hire a non-state Civil Service police chief by June 30.

State Rep. David Vieira, R-Falmouth, informed the Board of Selectmen that efforts to remove the position from its state classification, as directed by a 2021 Town Meeting vote, remain in the senate on Beacon Hill.

Bourne Town Hall.

An assistant town treasurer, meanwhile, has resigned, a department administrative assistant signaled retirement and the assistant library director post remains unfilled.

The assistant town administrator position is also unfilled.

McCollem started as Bourne’s administrator in March following the departure last November of former Town Administrator Anthony Schiavi and the resignation of Interim Administrator Tim King. In addition, Assistant Administrator Glenn Cannon took a job as town manager in Rochester.

Other issues McCollem is focusing on include Buzzards Bay sewerage and efforts to find a suitable fire station location south of the Bourne Bridge.

In other news, the Board of Selectmen approved a host of appointments and re-appointments to town committees and boards related to Barnstable County government.

They include Planning Board member Chris Farrell’s appointment to the Wastewater Advisory Committee and Susan Weston to the Conservation Commission, where she previously served.

Selectmen Chairman Peter Meier represents the town on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Advisory Board to monitor efforts to return commuter trains to Buzzards Bay and the hoped-for transit-oriented development in and around Main Street.

Meier is also joining the Cape Regional Transit Advisory Committee. He said efforts to resume the Bourne Transportation Committee were abandoned on the advice that planning for new canal bridges is premature.

Joseph Fraher has been appointed to the Bourne Advisory Open Space Committee. Selectmen reduced that panel from seven to five members on June 21. It originally included 13 members.

Selectwoman Mary Jane Mastrangelo replaced former Selectman George Slade as the board’s liaison to the Bourne Rail Trail Committee, saying that panel continues to seek grant funds, including federal money the town might be eligible for.

Mastrangelo said the grant program has just come out.

“There’s a lot of money in it,” she said. “It’s another opportunity for moving forward.”