Former Director Agrees to $60,000 Settlement in Lower Connecticut River Valley

REGIONAL - A recent settlement between former Estuary Transit District Executive Director Brad Beecher and the ETD board will end a conflict which started brewing last summer.

Deep River First Selectman Dick Smith said that on Mar. 27, Beecher agreed to accept a $60,000 separation agreement that would indemnify ETD employees, representatives, and the Boards of Selectmen of all towns represented by ETD.

The clause was necessary since Beecher in January threatened to file civil suits against Westbrook representative and former Chairwoman Doris Sanstrom, Old Lyme representative John Forbis, the towns the two represent, Finance Manager Halayna Famiglietti, and Operations Manager Paul Tyrell.

The agreement states that Beecher, who is an Old Saybrook resident, resigned his post.

"We had money sit in the line item for an executive director and we had no director," Smith said, adding that the board talked with its insurance carrier who agreed to pay $30,000.

The remaining $30,000 comes out of the executive director line item.

After Beecher was terminated, district operations were in the hands of Famiglietti, Tyrell, and Lead Dispatcher Sue Traskos.

The separation agreement is the result of months of negotiation between the various parties after Beecher was sent a termination letter in the mail on Sept. 7 from Sanstrom.

Beecher said the termination letter was not voted on by the board as a whole making it illegal.

Smith and Lyme First Selectman Ralph Eno had been meeting with Beecher to come to an acceptable agreement between all parties.

Admitting that two Deep River representatives on the board resigned in the past, Smith stepped in to represent Deep River and Eno also stepped up to represent Lyme on the board.

"It was a concern of myself and others that this had the potential to cost the towns," Smith said, adding that taxpayers will not have to pay any additional funds to ETD as a result of the agreement.

While ETD gets grant funding from the Connecticut Department of Transportation, DOT, the board was told that funding could not be used to pay legal bills.

This means that if the board did not have enough financing to cover legal expenses, it could force member towns to pay those costs, Smith said.

A temporary executive director from the DOT is expected to come aboard soon and Smith is confident that the future looks bright for ETD.

The board has recently drafted a new handbook creating policies and procedures for employees and recently elected a new Board of Directors.

Sanstrom did not run again for the chairman position allowing Killingworth First Selectman Richard Cabral to be the new chairman.

Smith does not expect the first selectmen will remain as permanent representatives on the board and hopes that residents will volunteer to serve on the board now that the Beecher issue is settled.

Beecher was unavailable for comment at press time.

Smith said "the district is good for the residents who utilize it," referring to the services the district provides to the nine-town region which includes Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook.

These services include the Shoreline Shuttle Service, Riverside Shuttle, and Transit on Call/Dial a Ride Service.