Board hires Jean Curtiss as manager

SEELEY LAKE – Former Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss was hired at a Feb. 6 special meeting by the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board to be an interim district manager.

The county had been providing Missoula County Public Works Director Greg Robertson as district manager through an interlocal agreement since 2011. Robertson left the county for a new job in January and the commissioners didn’t believe that anyone else on staff could fill in behind Robertson.

At the last board meeting, the District received a letter from Missoula County stating that the county would no longer be providing a manager. The board planned to discuss the process of hiring someone for the position at its regular February meeting.

The Feb. 6 special meeting was called for after the District received a proposal from Curtiss offering to serve as the manager.

In the proposal, Curtiss explained that she has knowledge of the District business because she worked closely with the District and past managers.

Curtiss met with Robertson before he left his county job to learn about the most important next steps. She proposed starting work on these things immediately.

Director Mike Boltz questioned if there were any alternative options to hiring Curtiss. Board President Pat Goodover said the main option would be to put the position out for proposals and see if anyone else had one.

Goodover requested an opinion from the District’s attorney who responded that the District was not bound by law or regulation to put the position out for proposals.

Boltz felt that the District could not operate without a manager and should proceed with hiring Curtiss.

Director Walt Hill agreed, saying that he felt the District needed a manager as soon as possible and that Curtiss has the knowledge and know-how to move the sewer project forward. Hill said there was a scheduled conference call with funding agencies at the end of the week and that the District should have a manager representing them. That call may be hard to reschedule if the government is shut down again.

Director Beth Hutchinson said she didn’t agree with hiring a manager without going through a proper process whether it was legally mandated or not. One thing she was concerned about was not having a job description. She said without a job description the person being hired doesn’t know what is expected of them.

Hutchinson felt that by following a proper process such as having a job description and advertising the District would be transparent with the public.

Another issue raised by Hutchinson was the source of funding that would be used for paying the manager.

When the county began providing a manager for free the District kept collecting the taxes that were being used to pay the previous manager. This extra money was put into the District reserves. The position can be funded from the reserves.

Hutchinson was still concerned about spending money from the reserves because there are several other things to which the reserves have been committed. District Secretary Felicity Derry said the reserve was still in the clear. Hutchinson requested an audit of the reserve account.

Director Davy Good said that before he left he talked to Robertson about who would be the best person to fill the position. Robertson recommended Curtiss. Good felt that Curtiss is more up to speed than anyone else whom the District might find to fill the position but agreed with Hutchinson about needing to go through a more formal process.

As a compromise, Good proposed that the board hire Curtiss as an interim manager in order to take care of pressing issues. This would give the board time to create a job description and advertise the position before hiring someone permanent.

Hill and Hutchinson agreed that Good’s proposal solved some of the issues raised however Boltz didn’t care for the compromise. He wanted someone to be hired and to commit to seeing the project through from start and finish.

Good made a motion for the board to hire Curtiss for three months as an interim manager.

Curtiss recommended that the board extend the interim position to six months so that one person could be responsible for the project from now until it was out to bid. She felt that splitting it at three months would create extra confusion.

The motion was amended to six months and the board voted unanimously to hire Curtiss.

The board then discussed the details of hiring Curtiss. She will be paid as an independent contractor at $40 per hour and the board limited her to 80 hours per 4-week period.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m., Feb. 21 at the Missoula County Satellite Office located at 3360 Highway 83.