Adams - The search is on!
The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved two motions Wednesday night that will allow the town to push forward with the search for a new town administrator.
Selectmen Joseph R. Dean Jr., Edward MacDonald, and Joseph Solomon approved the assignment of four members to the search committee headed by fromer Selectman Edward J. Driscoll, bringing the total proposed committee members to 11. Selectwoman Myra Wilk and Selectman Donald R. Sommer were not present at the meeting.And Selectmen approved what Driscoll called "an aggressive timeline" for finding a replacement for Town Administrator William Ketcham, who announced his resignation from the position last month.
"I have no idea what we're going to find," Driscoll said about the search, and he noted that planning was still in the early stages.
The search committee hopes to meet with the Selectmen on Monday, June 11 to get preliminary ideas about how the search will be conducted, according to the newly-approved timeline.
"We hope to get the philosophy of the board and create the ad on that day," Driscoll said. Within a week - by June 18 - the committee plans to meet again with the Selectmen to finalize the advertisement that will request applications, resumes and cover letters from potential candidates.
Though the timeline is tentative, Driscoll and the Selectmen hope to set the deadline for applications for July 20 at 4 p.m.. From there, Driscoll plans to present the top 2-4 candidates to the Selectmen for consideration by August 8.
After former Town Administrator James J. Leitch retired in 2002, the town underwent a lengthy, nationwide search for a replacement. Ketcham was hired in 2004 after Leitch's successor William Sheridan resigned due to health issues. Ketcham was the third choice selected after a four-month search. Applicant Dennis Lutrell was the Selectmen's first choice for the job but plans to hire him were abandonded after a Boston Globe newspaper article named him as negotiating with another community for a similar job. Second choice candidate Shaun Kelly declined to accept the job.
Driscoll said the committee will avoid the same kind of confusion this time around.
"We learned from our mistakes," he said. "This time around, we have the experience of having done it twice in the recent past. Before Leitch resigned, the town hadn't done a search in 15 years. We learned our lesson."
Driscoll stated that he hopes to find a candidate more locally. He was unable to name the 11-member committee definitively, but Finance Committee member Rosemarie Stachura did confirm that she will sit on the committee.
"I'm confident the committee can handle it," said MacDonald.
The Selectmen also unanimously approved the planting of public community gardens at Youth Center, Inc. by Peter Levesque and at Greylock Apartments by REACH Community Health Foundation.
"Everybody can plant their gardens this week," Dean said.
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ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen has begun a deep review of the fiscal 2026 budget of $19,548,441, up $717,916, or 3.7 percent over this year.
The annual budget workshops started with a preliminary review and presentation of the budget books last week and continued on Tuesday with the Executive, Finance and Technology and General Government sections.
That included the elected town clerk, assessor and treasurer/collector who all asked for a 5 percent raise to start bringing their salaries closer to other department heads and citing increased responsibilities and workloads in their offices.
Each began with reading a statement that they had emailed interim Town Administrator Kenneth Walto, Chair John Duval and Finance Director Ashley Satko on Feb. 27 requesting the raises that would amount to $7,000 total in the budget.
"This 5 percent increase would help to align these three positions with the salaries of the other department heads throughout the town of Adams. The average of these other department positions is approximately $89,000," said Assessor Paula Grover. "It would bring our salaries to $81,933, which is still well below the average salary."
Town Clerk Haley Meczywor said, "this disparity raises questions about fairness and equally, the allocation of resources."
Treasurer Kelly F. Rice noted that raises of between 4 and 10 percent had been given to other departments and positions, above the regular 2 percent cost of living.
The spending plan is up $654,917, or 2.9 percent, over this year. Out-of-district special education tuitions and a 16 percent hike in health insurance are major drivers of the increase.
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Incumbent Joseph J. Nowak will face off against Jay T. Meczywor and Jerome S. Socolof for the two seats up for election on the board. Both seats are for three-year terms.
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The pub was last open in 2018 and there were hopes of finding a potential buyer but none came through and the building hasn't been open since.
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Ashlyn Lesure scored 18 points, and Regan Shea and Emma Meczywor added 15 and 11, respectively, as the Hurricanes successfully defended their 2024 state crown and won the program’s fourth state title in a run that has seen Hoosac Valley go to the state final nine times since 2014. click for more
