HEBRON — Residents will be asked to consider a number of leadership changes at Hebron’s annual town meeting March 15.

Following elections for local offices, residents will be asked to authorize the Board of Selectmen to add the position of town administrator.

An administrator would work up to 32 hours a week, at a proposed hourly wage of $45 per hour with benefits. The position would aggregate municipal department responsibilities at Hebron’s Town Office that have been split between its three-person Select Board or outsourced to third parties, like finance and accounting.

Last year the Select Board convened an ad hoc committee to research and recommend governance that would best suit Hebron, including positions of town manager, administrator, administrative assistant, or continue splitting municipal management functions between the board.

The ad hoc committee recommended a full-time administrative assistant with supervisory responsibilities. However, selectmen opted for a three-quarters time administrator who could also bring duties previously carried out by a treasurer that have been outsourced since last year.

The salary allocation for the vacant treasurer position will used to cover part of an administrator’s wages.

Hebron’s 2024 general and administrative budget is projected to be $253,270. Voters will be asked to approve $341,262, an increase of $74,800, for the upcoming fiscal year. The increase reflects hiring an administrator but includes adding salary savings from last year back.

Selectmen stipends, which have been budgeted at $32,000 between the three officials, are included in the 2025 budget, but that line item will be reduced by up to $25,000 in the future and applied toward  an administrator’s compensation.

The winter road maintenance article requests $212,458, up $13,300 from last year’s budget but about flat from the actual expense. Summer road maintenance is budgeted at $152,108, about $5,000 less than budgeted for 2024.

Article 13 asks residents to authorize paving projects up to $180,000, to be be paid for from the town’s undesignated fund account. Last year’s paving expense was $147,280, about $2,000 less than budgeted.

Article 17, to fund the Transfer Station, requests $125,368, an increase of about $18,000 from last year’s budget.

Article 19 asks for $68,000 to support Hebron’s Fire Department. Last year it was budgeted at $55,000; the actual reported expense was $60,374.

In 2024, voters approved allocating $100,000 from the town’s undesignated fund balance toward a new Highway Department truck; Article 27 of this year’s town meeting warrant asks voters to appropriate the money and use $110,000 from the Highway Reserve Account to purchase a new truck in 2025.

In Article 28, selectmen request another $50,000 be transferred from the undesignated fund balance toward the future purchase of town plow trucks, although Hebron’s budget committee recommends $10,000. The new Highway Department truck is set to be delivered this month.

Elizabeth Olsen, pictured during a Dec. 2, 2024 Select Board meeting, is the lone Hebron selectperson not stepping down during this year’s annual town meeting. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

Two-thirds of Hebron’s board of selectmen will exit their seats: Chairman Gino Valeriano has announced he will not seek a second term when his expires. He was elected in 2022.

Derek Pike, who was elected to the board in 2023, has also resigned, to take effect when a replacement is elected. He cites work and personal demands, including the arrival of twin daughters next month, that conflict with the time he has available to serve.

Voters will also be asked to choose a new representative for School Administrative District 17’s board of directors. After serving two terms Amanda Fearon has decided to step down. She, too, said she needs to spend more time with her family.

Fearon shared her decision with her colleagues on the school board Monday. She is unsure who may replace her, explaining that in Hebron the seat is selected during town meeting. “When I volunteered, I was told it is a lifetime appointment.”

Hebron does not require candidates to take out nomination papers. So far, one resident has indicated he will stand for Valeriano’s seat.

Butch Asselin announced on the Hebron citizens Facebook page he administers he intends to run. Asselin is no stranger to municipal leadership. He was Oxford’s town manager for four years until he retired in 2021. Prior to that he worked in Houlton first as its police chief and then town manager, filling both positions at Skowhegen before that.

Hebron’s Select Board Chair Gino Valeriani will not seek reelection for a second term when his seat on the board expires later this month. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

If elected to Hebron’s Select Board Asselin will be reunited with Oxford’s former town clerk Elizabeth Olsen, who will be the lone selectperson  retaining her seat. Olsen continues to be employed by Oxford, managing its human resources and finance departments.

Hebron voters will also be asked to elect a road commissioner to a one-year term, two budget committee representatives, one planning board member, and one trustee to the Moody Library.

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