EAST LONGMEADOW – After several months of negotiations, the Town Council unanimously agreed at its Sept. 27 meeting to pay former Police Chief Douglas Mellis $165,000 due to a breach of contract.

In a controversial move the Board of Selectmen decided to advertise for Mellis’ job at its Jan. 12 meeting because his contract was set to expire. The board also cited high police overtime budgets during the past several years as a reason for looking for a new chief.

Another controversy that unfolded a couple months later, on March 15, was in regard to former Town Administrator Gregory Neffinger, who sent Mellis a letter without the board’s approval stating Mellis’ attendance at an Appropriations Committee meeting was insubordination and Mellis used the meeting as a way to criticize the selectmen.

Mellis’ lawyer Austin Joyce previously stated he believed the letter could have been the foundation of a lawsuit because he believed it violated Mellis’ First Amendment civil rights.

After the Sept. 27 meeting, Town Council President Kevin Manley told Reminder Publications he believes the settlement with Mellis was a fair and responsible because it “relieved the town of any liability in any further matter.”

According to Mellis’ contract with the town, his salary was $135,900.

When asked how the two parties reached the final amount of $165,000, Manley said, “He came in a little higher than what we had originally anticipated and based on some legitimate claims –  he could have made a wage claim and that subjected us to triple damages. So, looking at everything, we just kind of negotiated what we thought was a fair figure and both parties are agreeable. He’s signed off that he’s willing to take it. The two attorneys have negotiated that figure. It’s not far from his salary that was owed to him by state law, it is a little bit more obviously, but it does, in the end, saves us in litigation costs.”

He added during negotiations there was a disagreement regarding how much Mellis should be paid for his accrued sick time.

“It was like $8,000 total and it was based on a bank of time that he received when he left Longmeadow and he came here,” Manley explained. “When he left Longmeadow, he had no sick time when he got here, so they gave him a bank of 50 days. We actually didn’t include the sick time. We took a figure – $140,000. He started higher, obviously. We just met in the middle and said, ‘Okay, we could be exposed to this $8,000, so we’ve got to be somewhere in this neighborhood.’”

Manley, who previously served as a selectman, elected after the board made its decision to breach Mellis’ contract, stated he believes it’s clear that the process was “not mistake free.”

He added, “It could have been done a whole lot better ... We could have avoided the whole mess, but now it’s behind us so that’s a good place to be.”

Town Council Vice President Paul Federici, who served as Board of Selectmen chair during the time the decision to look for a new police chief was made, said after the Sept. 27 meeting he believes the way the issue was handled wasn’t in the best interest of the town.

When asked if he believed the board’s decision at the time was a mistake, he replied, “I think there may have been some oversight. I don’t want to say a mistake ... but I think there may have been some oversight in their analysis before they went about doing what they did.”

During the meeting, Town Councilor Eric Madison praised the negotiation work of his fellow councilors.

One issue raised prior to the vote was in regard to whether appropriating Mellis’ settlement on Sept. 27 would have been premature due to a 21-day review process followed by another seven-day right of recession.

The council previously tabled its vote on appropriating the funds at its Sept. 13 meeting due to this issue.

It was believed by the council at the Sept. 13 meeting that the end of the waiting period would fall on Oct. 5.

However, Town Counsel James Donahue, who previously advised not appropriating the funds at the council’s Sept. 13 meeting, stated the end of the waiting period was Sept. 13.