COLRAIN — After more than a year without a permanent highway superintendent, the Colrain Selectboard has appointed interim Nate Gilbert as the next permanent superintendent.
Gilbert, who had been the department’s longtime mechanic and laborer, has been leading the department since August 2024, when he was promoted to interim and replaced the late superintendent Steven Daby.
After negotiations, Gilbert and the town agreed to an annual salary of $103,000, plus the ability to earn overtime pay for snow removal and in emergency operations. Last week, Selectboard members voted unanimously to appoint Gilbert and offered their thanks for his efforts in running the department.
“It’s been going great so far,” Town Administrator Diana Parsons said.
The Highway Department also will see other personnel changes, as the Selectboard approved hiring two more laborers, bringing the total to five. The new laborers will be paid at a rate of $26.56 per hour, which Parsons said the department should be able to cover with the existing budget.
For the 2026 fiscal year, the town had budgeted $254,435 for highway department wages and $91,423 for the highway superintendent’s salary.
Parsons said she hopes increasing the team will boost morale, ease the workload for laborers, and reduce the department’s turnover rate.
“It’s a big lift… we haven’t been able to have four consistently for a long time,” Parsons said.
Part of the department’s reorganization will include adding another leadership role, so Gilbert has a second in command.
“It isn’t so much for succession planning,” Parsons said. “But I think it’s more for the thought of having somebody, so that Nate feels comfortable taking time off and there’s no question about somebody being in charge.”