Clarksburg Gets 6 Applicants For Post; Solves Truck PurchaseBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
03:58PM / Thursday, March 29, 2012 | |
CLARKSBURG, Mass. —The town has received a half-dozen resumes after reposting the position of town administrator.
The last posting went begging after four finalists culled from nearly a dozen applications withdrew or didn't show up for their interviews. The job has been vacant since Michael Canales left to become administrative officer for the city of North Adams on March 5.
Selectmen Chairman Carl McKinney said another search committee will not be convened to interview the applicants after discussing the matter with Selectwoman Lily Kuzia at Wednesday's meeting.
"We determined we would do it ourselves and we have agreed that if we come to no agreement, then the next step is to wait until a new select board is seated in May," said McKinney on Wednesday evening. "My preference is to get it done before then ... we've eaten up a lot of time with no satisfactory results."
He expected interview dates to be set at next week's joint meeting of the Selectmen and Finance Committee on Wednesday, April 4, at 6:30 at the police station. (The joint meeting scheduled for this Wednesday night was canceled.) The last day to apply for the post was Monday.
The lack of a full-time administrator has hampered the day-to-day operations of the town; the town's accountant has also left for North Adams and the Board of Selectmen is down one officer. An interim administrator has been appointed and the police chief has taken on the emergency management duties, but efforts to keep the town on an even keel have been time-consuming.
It took a team effort to get a plow truck purchase straightened out this past week after it was learned the purchase amount had not been included in a town meeting motion last year.
The Selectmen last week had set a special town meeting date to revote the cost of the truck — which has already arrived — but a search of the town clerk's notes and conversations with the Department of Revenue uncovered the discussion about the truck and the amount at town meeting.
"Her notes did in fact validate what was discussed on the floor," said McKinney, who credited the efforts of Town Clerk Carol Jammalo, Treasurer Christa Marsh and interim adminstrator Debra Choquette in getting the matter corrected. "We got a copy of the bid, it was motioned and it was passed."
The amount discussed was $153,000, minus a $10,000 trade-in and $30,000 from the stabilization account. McKinney believes the state will require the town to take out the entire $153,000 because of the way it was motioned; the balance would then stay in the stabilization account as unexpended funds. He and Kuzia signed the paperwork for the truck on Wednesday morning.
The board also met with Department of Transportation representative Kathy Stevens on road surfacing and preservation and Chapter 90 funding uses. Stevens also gave some thoughts on the town's pursuit of a road grant.
The DOT's Small Town Rural Assistance Program now falls under the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. The town's application for a STRAP grant to repave its roads was rejected last year because the state said the roads weren't used enough. McKinney said the town expects to try again by focusing on the "pounding" taken by the roads after Hurricane Irene, which washed out the state highway and forced heavy truck traffic to Vermont onto the residential byways.
Correction April 4, 2012: This article had incorrectly identified the MassWorks program.
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