TOWNSHEND — The Select Board has terminated highway department crewman Walter “Bo” Royce from his position following the town becoming aware of what the Select Board Chair “disappearing fuel” within the department.
The board made the vote at a special meeting Jan. 10 after three hours of deliberation in executive session.
The vote follows a similar action at the board's Nov. 5, 2012 meeting, where, following a similar closed-to-the-public deliberation, the board voted to terminate Royce's employment “with just cause.”
Select Board Chairwoman Heddy Harris said on Sunday that the issue at the heart of Royce's dismissal occurred over a period of several years, although the town was unsure at what point it first became an issue.
“The town frankly was not very good at record keeping about things like fuel consumption for a long time,” she said. “At some point we became aware that fuel was disappearing.”
When contacted Monday, Harris said she could not elaborate on why the board deliberated and voted twice.
Select Board members Harris, Chad Greenwood, Henry Martin, David Dezendorf, and Jeffrey Russ, and Town Counsel Richard Coutant attended the more recent meeting.
Royce attended with his lawyer, Jesse Corum IV.
When in executive session, members of the public are not permitted to attend and minutes are not required to be taken, or released to the public, according to state law.
After executive session, Select Board members voted to terminate Royce, with Dezendorf abstaining.
Royce, one of five employees on the town highway department, had worked for the town since 2004.
Harris declined to give further comment, as “It is still a personnel matter and has not been fully resolved.” Harris, and other Selectboard members were unsure at what point the issue would be resolved.
Coutant confirmed that litigation will likely follow.
“I think when this is finally over I would like to make some comment, but at this point I don't feel that l can say anything else on the matter,” Harris said.
Russ, Dezendorf, and Corum declined comment. Greenwood and Martin were unable to be reached at press time.
“To protect both the employee and the town, I cannot comment on it until it is no longer in the purview of the courts,” Dezendorf said.
Dezendorf said that once the issue has been resolved, the town will “reach out” to media outlets to provide further information.
Should the issue enter the court system, it will then become public information as well.