Severance package OK’d; then chief quit

By Jon Moffett

The former director will also receive full health benefits until October 2010.

CANFIELD — A resignation letter included in the personnel file of Dave Imbrogno showed terms of his severance were negotiated before he quit as executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks.

The file did not include any disciplinary actions or reprimands against Imbrogno, who resigned Aug. 31.

The handwritten note is signed by Imbrogno and dated Aug. 31. It reads: “I hereby resign per the terms of the severance agreement and general release offered and initiated by the board of park commissioners at the special board meeting on August 31, 2009.”

The severance agreement pays Imbrogno about $96,000 in cash, though Imbrogno’s contract stipulated the MetroParks would not be required to pay anything if he decided to resign.

A majority of the three-member board voted to accept the resignation at a public session. Board members Carl Nunziato and Jay Macejko approved the agreement; board president Virginia Dailey opposed it.

The agreement pays Imbrogno $3,475 every two weeks from Nov. 1 to Oct. 1, 2010, and was done out of courtesy and not contractual obligation, Nunziato has said. Imbrogno will also receive full health-care benefits for the duration of the severance, bringing its total value to between $105,000 and $110,000.

Nunziato and Macejko declined to comment on a special board meeting at the MetroParks Farm on Tuesday. Macejko, the Youngstown city prosecutor, is the only park commissioner to refuse to go on record regarding the severance agreement.

In a previous interview, Nunziato said Imbrogno talked of resignation but did not formalize a plan until the Aug. 31 executive session.

The sole action taken at its Tuesday meeting was to approve the terms for the planned board expansion adopted during a fiery Oct. 19 meeting at which Dailey questioned its need before voting against it.

The board agreed – in a 2-1 vote – to expand from three to five members effective Jan. 1. One new park commissioner will serve a one-year term, which expires in 2011, and the other will serve a two-year term expiring in 2012.