HEBRON — The Hebron Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing Monday to share information and gather feedback from residents about creating a town administrator position to oversee municipal operations.

The hearing will be held at Hebron Town Office at 6 p.m.

Then, on March 15, residents will be asked to approve the new position, and allocate funding for it, at Hebron’s annual town meeting, which will take place at Hebron Station School.

Until now, the information shared with voters about the potential changes has mostly come from a town-sanctioned volunteer committee on the matter.

Last June Hebron convened the ad hoc committee to evaluate a feasible solution for its future governance. It was officially dismissed in September after members presented their findings and recommendations to selectmen.

The committee volunteers brought years of varied local government experience. They include former Select Board members Jim Reid and Dick Deans; former town managers for Norway and Oxford, Dennis Lajoie and Butch Asselin respectively; former Lincoln County Regional Planner Robert Faunce; and two local citizens – William Clough, a retired electrician with ties to Town Office, and Josh Hounsell, a businessman and community service volunteer.

They advised creating a full-time administrative assistant position that would report to the Select Board.

But the select board, based on guidance from its legal counsel, has determined hiring a part-time higher-level administrator to be a more feasible and less expensive solution.

As recommended by the ad hoc committee, the person’s primary responsibilities would be to stand as the public-facing official to field and respond to residents’ concerns; supervise the town’s seven employees; facilitate annual budgeting; research and recommend grant opportunities for the Select Board to consider; and be the point person for additional duties such as road commissioner, treasurer, human resources and other administrative management.

They would also aggregate department supervision currently split between its three selectmen and bring in-house operational functions, like bookkeeping, that have been outsourced to third-party vendors in recent years.

The salary would be paid in part by decreasing the $30,000 total stipend currently paid to the Select Board to $1,500 each.

As the current board chair, Gino Valeriani receives $15,000 and oversees the public works department. The other two board members receive $7,500. Elizabeth Olsen handles town office administration and human resources roles, while Derek Pike is responsible for transfer station operations.

Few details about the Select Board’s plans and rationale for changing Hebron’s governance have been made public.

The topic was listed on the board’s Dec. 9, 2024 meeting agenda but as of Feb. 3 the minutes from the meeting have not been made available to the public.

Although the ad hoc committee was disbanded five months ago, selectmen continued discussions with the group at the Dec. 9 and other business meetings.

During those discussions the board also indicated that the former town managers on the committee, Lajoie and Asselin, may be asked to serve on a hiring committee.

Over the last week the Advertiser Democrat sent several questions to the board for status on the position, including asking fir a a job description, article language for the annual town meeting warrant, and recent meeting minutes. As of press time, answers have yet been received.