Pepperell selectmen vote to raise town administrator salary to $126,000

PEPPERELL — February 12, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen raise town administrator salary to $126,000 and unveil FY2019 budget calling for two new public-safety hires. The Board of Selectmen voted 2-0 — Chair Melissa Zinedakis and Selectman Roland Nutter present, Selectwoman Lisa Farrier-Nichols absent — to set Town Administrator Mark Andrews's base salary at $126,000 effective July 1, 2018, up from approximately $108,000, after a peer-town salary study showed comparable communities paying $125,000 to $138,000. The board also deleted an unenforceable clause barring Andrews from seeking outside employment, which labor counsel said violated the 13th Amendment. Andrews's FY2019 budget recommended adding one full-time police officer at $85,470 and one EMT at $70,162, a $143,000 dispatch console replacement described as 30 years old and at risk of imminent failure, and a $100,000 public-safety complex roof. The board simultaneously proclaimed February 12, 2018 as George Ox Day, honoring nearly 53 years of volunteer emergency management service by the outgoing deputy director.