HEBRON — Hebron’s Board of Selectmen committed the majority of their Nov. 25 business meeting to debate the town’s disbanded ad hoc committee for town governance. They touched on their interpretative differences of the committee’s personnel and operations recommendations as presented last fall, as well as consideration for practical paths forward.
The board told meeting visitors, most of whom who had served on the committee between May and September, that while it has not taken any steps forward, selectmen have reviewed the presentation and shared it with the town’s attorney for further due diligence.
They will develop a proposal for townspeople to vote on, possibly during Hebron’s 2025 annual town meeting in March. Hiring would conform to the next fiscal year.
The ad hoc committee had studied dozens of neighboring towns utilizing town manager, town administrator and administrative assistant management structures and interviewed municipal officials before determining a fulltime administrative assistant would be the best solution for Hebron.
However, selectmen had countered that a 28-hour per week town administrator would best serve the town.
Before last Monday’s meeting, committee chair Butch Asselin submitted a draft of administrator role-related articles for the town meeting warrant and requested it be placed on that night’s agenda.
The articles, if passed at town meeting, would authorize Hebron to hire a full-time administrative assistant, who would report to selectmen and oversee municipal operations and personnel.
Draft Article 1 would fund the position, with the ad hoc committee recommending a base salary of $50,000.
The second article would establish a hiring committee comprised of five residents chosen by voters. The third article would be to adopt the job description as written by the committee.
The fourth article would partially provide means to fund the position by decreasing Hebron’s combined Select Board stipends from $30,000 to $4,500.
Currently, the board chair receives $15,000 a year while the two other selectmen get $7,500 each. The draft stipulates that once the administrative assistant position is approved, each board member would receive a $1,500 stipend.
Hebron Select Chairman Gino Valeriani acknowledged the volunteers’ frustration with the slower pace the board is taking but stated it is up to the three selectmen to determine official action.
Selectperson Elizabeth Olsen pushed back against Asselin’s stated urgency that the draft articles to be voted on that evening, explaining that next year’s budget and town meeting warrant process are nowhere close to being ready, and that the ad hoc committee’s recommendations need to be integrated into the board’s planning and not supersede it.
Valeriani and Olsen both pointed out that Asselin’s articles draft varies from ad hoc committee’s recommendations, which called for Asselin and Dennis Lajoie, both previous town managers in Oxford and Norway, respectively, to oversee recruitment, while the draft indicated broader citizen involvement.
They also said they need time to consider incorporating duties that have been part of the town treasurer’s responsibilities in with the new position and potentially outsource some accounting functions. That will require more work to develop a final job description. The treasurer’s position is currently unfilled.
The Select Board announced that following legal consultation, it views a 32-hour per week administrator as the most fiscally feasible governance to pursue.
