Pepperell Board confirms interim town administrator at $53 per hour for 90 days

PEPPERELL — June 18, 2018 — Pepperell Board of Selectmen formally ratifies interim town administrator contract and seals prior executive session minutes. The board voted unanimously Monday to confirm the contract of Interim Town Administrator John Moak, engaged at $53 per hour for approximately 24 hours per week from June 14 through September 5, 2018, with a $150 weekly lodging stipend and $50 weekly car allowance, and eligible for a second 90-day term if no permanent hire is made by that date. Moak presented a department-head goal-setting plan, asking each department to submit one to three FY 2019 objectives by the following Thursday, with a full set of goals targeted by early August. The board informally agreed to delay posting the town administrator job advertisement for at least 30 days, with the search committee's first meeting targeted for the week of July 16. The board also deferred a vote on indemnification arrangements for outgoing Town Administrator Mark Andrews — whose employment contract obligates the town to provide him legal counsel for actions within his official role — pending a review of the town's MIIA insurance policy. In executive session, the board reviewed minutes from its May 21 meeting and voted not to release them, citing an active consideration of the filing of criminal complaints under the state open meeting law's executive session provision five.