Norwich
Applications are due Sept. 2, according to the board’s draft timeline, and a candidate could begin work as soon as early November.
Job ads soon will go out in newspapers all around the state in a campaign for which the Selectboard earmarked about $3,300.
A draft version said Norwich seeks an “engaging, collaborative and experienced town manager” and left the salary line blank; the board filled in that number on Monday night with a range of $84,000 to $88,000 — considerably less than former Town Manager Neil Fulton’s pay, which was around $100,000 at the time of his resignation earlier this year.
Board members were split, 3-2, over whether to offer a salary at a lower level.
Selectmen Christopher Ashley proposed a range of roughly $87,000 to $130,000; Selectman Steve Flanders supported one of $84,000 to $93,000.
The two board members, who often form a minority faction in board votes, argued that keeping the figure more open would attract a better selection of candidates.
“If you’re willing to limit your candidates to those who are willing to accept that small (of a) salary range — which may be fine, I don’t know — then go with that,” Flanders said, according to a recording. “But if you want to have more flexibility in whom you get to look at, I would go with a bigger salary range.”
Those numbers were too high for the rest of the board.
“I’m not inclined in any way to go to $93,000,” Selectboard Chairwoman Linda Cook said. “Not even supporting it, in any way, for the most qualified individual.”
Messages left for Cook on Thursday and Friday were not returned.
On Monday, Cook suggested the range that the board eventually selected: between $84,000 and $88,000. She cited a number of towns with comparable populations that, according to a municipal compensation report, pay their managers a number closer to hers.
In 2015, that included Hartland, a town of just under 3,400 that pays its manager $77,000; and Vergennes, a town of 2,600 that pays $86,000. Norwich’s population is about 3,400.
Ashley, however, argued that the most qualified candidates often would find efficiencies through better management later on.
“Sometimes, I think, you pay more and you get more and that saves you money down the road,” he said.
Selectman Dan Goulet argued that the debate was moot, because, he said, “this is all going to be negotiated anyway.”
“That’s the range, and it’s still not cast in stone,” he said later. “It still can be negotiated. If we find somebody with extraordinary qualifications, I don’t think anything should be cast in stone.”
The next regularly scheduled Selectboard meeting is Aug. 24.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or at 603-727-3242.