FAIRLEE — An Orange County town has hired Fairlee’s town administrator to take the place of a town manager who was arrested last month on charges of embezzling from the Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department.
The Williamstown Selectboard concluded a five-week search earlier this month for a new manager with the board’s unanimous selection of Ryan Lockwood, who is slated to begin his new post on Jan. 5, Selectboard Chairman Larry Hebert said in a phone interview on Monday.
In addition to serving two years as town administrator in Fairlee, Lockwood also served on the Bradford, Vt., Selectboard for seven years.
In addition to his municipal work experience, “he seemed like he really cared about the job (…). He’d really like to work with the town to make the town better,” Hebert said. “Unless I miss my judgment, I think he’ll do a good job for us.”
Lockwood shone through as the best of the eight candidates for the position, Hebert said.
In addition to the career-advancing aspect of the job, it suits Lockwood as he’s set to move in with his girlfriend in Washington, Vt., later this month. Washington and Williamstown are neighboring towns, which both share borders with the Upper Valley town of Chelsea.
“I would like to be able to put down roots and settle in something long-term,” Lockwood said, having signed the three-year contract for $87,000 a year with a $3,000 stipend for personal vehicle use. “I thought that was Fairlee, but when this opportunity came up, I had to take a stab at it.”
Lockwood will see increased responsibilities as he moves from assisting the Fairlee Selectboard to overseeing most of the operations of Williamstown, which has a population of around 3,500. Fairlee has about 1,000 permanent residents.
Lockwood hopes to bring “solid leadership and some guidance to some future projects they may have going,” such as new town garage plans and flood damage recovery, he said in a Monday telephone interview.
Fairlee officials expressed appreciation for the work Lockwood has done, which included handling most of the town’s operations, inter-office communications and assisting the various town departments.
“We think he’s done a good job of handling the needs and all of the various things that crop up — whether they’re infrastructure, roads or water department,” Fairlee Selectboard Chair Peter Berger said in a Monday phone interview.
Fairlee officials are hoping to find someone to fill Lockwood’s shoes after he departs on Dec. 31.
“I hope that we’ll be able to, you know, repeat it and have somebody as qualified to handle the position as he is,” Berger said. “I’m disappointed to see him go, obviously.”
Fairlee currently has two applicants for the town administrator position, for which they’ve placed ads around the state, Berger said. The application can be found by going to the “Vermont Town Careers” website, clicking “Search for Jobs!” and searching “Fairlee.” It has a deadline of Dec. 31.
Jacqueline Higgins, 63, of Vershire, vacated the Williamstown position after her arrest last month on charges of embezzling $186,000 from Tunbridge’s volunteer fire department over a 10-year period from 2014 through 2025.
The fire department hired Higgins as a bookkeeper in 1994, a position that has since been filled by a Tunbridge resident, “who has the training and experience to manage our finances professionally and appropriately,” the Department told the Valley News last month.
The Department has “already taken steps to strengthen internal financial controls and oversight and will continue to adopt best practices that will prevent actions like this in the future,” according to a Facebook post from the Department on Nov. 6.
Her work with the fire department was entirely separate from her work as town manager, a post she held for more than 14 years, Hebert said. Efforts to reach Higgins were not successful.
Higgins “always did good as far as budgets and stuff like that,” Hebert said. “She was good at making them and good at staying in them.”
In light of the embezzlement charges, the Selectboard is seeking quotes for an audit review, Hebert said. Voters will decide whether or not to conduct such a report on Higgins’ work.
For his part, Hebert said he was “not real concerned about that” because Higgins never had access to the banking computers and such. Those are responsibilities held by the town treasurer.
Williamstown also had both annual and monthly finance reports from independent accounting services, Hebert said.
While Lockwood ties up loose ends in Fairlee, Higgins has been answering questions remotely for the Selectboard as it finalizes the budget. She is continuing to be paid until the end of December, Hebert said. The salary for the position is more than $87,000.
Her other duties have been divided among Hebert, the town clerk, the treasurer and the administrative assistant, Hebert said.
“Everybody’s worked together, and we’re getting through it,” Hebert said. “Not to say I won’t be happy when a new (town manager) comes on — because I got plenty to do besides this.”
Higgins arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 8:30 a.m. in Orange Superior Court in Chelsea.