BUCKFIELD —With the town audit completed and residents finally voting on a new municipal budget Tuesday, things are falling back in place following a tumultuous year.
The Board of Selectmen filled in the last missing piece Monday evening by hiring Lorna Dee Nichols of New Sharon as town manager. She will assume the role Monday, Oct. 4.
“Terms of employment have been negotiated and agreed upon by both parties and reviewed by legal (counsel). We now have a signed contract, ” Board Chairperson Cheryl Coffman announced to the public Monday following an executive session.
Vice Chairperson Cameron Hinkley made the motion to hire Nichols, which the board passed unanimously.
Nichols’ contract is for three years with a starting salary of $60,000, Hinkley said.
Currently chairperson of the New Sharon Board of Selectmen, Nichols has served on the board since 2014. She is married to Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr.
She is also the food service manager for the Franklin County Jail, a promotion that she received in August. She began as jail cook supervisor in 2015.
When hired for that position, she was praised by her supervisor, Doug Blauvelt, for her “experience with budgets, strong supervising skills and building a restaurant from the ground up.”
Nichols also served five years as executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.
She succeeds interim Town Manager Bradley Plante, who filled in for four months following the resignation of John Andrews. Andrews quit his position after six months citing a stormy relationship with the Select Board.
Plante helped lift the town from the abyss by getting its finances in order, opening up the Town Office, and preparing a municipal budget that was being considered by voters Tuesday three months into the new fiscal year.
Nichols is Buckfield’s fifth town manager since August 2020.
Plante, whose resignation became official last Friday, has agreed to be available as needed until Nichols begins her new duties.
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