WESTBROOK - Last week was supposed to be the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Development of a Finance Director Job Description–but instead it became both the committee’s first and last meeting.

In just 25 minutes–and before Selectman Marie Farrell’s scheduled 8 p.m. arrival at the meeting–the group had already reviewed a sample job description from the Town of Durham and voted to adopt it with minor amendments as the Westbrook job description; it further voted to set the salary of the post in a range from $60,000 to $75,000 and to recommend to the town boards of Selectmen and Finance that the opening be immediately posted for three weeks with the Government Finance Office Association.

Voting in favor of the motion, according to meeting minutes written by First Selectman Noel Bishop, were Bishop, Board of Finance member Gary Gavigan, and–by speakerphone–Jane Butterworth, also on the Board of Finance.

The minutes do not record Treasurer Darlene Jones’s vote or that committee member Farrell was absent during deliberations and during the vote.

Jones said she questioned the speed with which the committee reviewed the job description and voted to send it on to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance for approval. Jones was particularly concerned that Durham’s finance director job description might not be applicable to Westbrook since Durham has a town charter and Westbrook does not.

When told of the Ad Hoc Committee’s proposed recommendation, Selectman Jim Crawford said, “I would suggest that the motion be tabled because we don’t know enough. We don’t know whether Durham’s particulars are applicable to Westbrook. Second, we’re in the process of creating a new position and we haven’t discussed who this person reports to, who this person would supervise, and what specific experience the position would require.”

Crawford suggested that it may be necessary for the town to hire a consultant to help the town walk through the process to have a good shot at success in addressing the problems identified by town auditors and consultant Linda Savitsky.

Savitsky herself, an experienced municipal finance consultant, recently informed the town leaders that she declined to provide the town with additional consulting services.