COLRAIN — An executive assistant at Town Hall and an administrative assistant for the Police Department were approved at this week’s Selectboard meeting.
The two new staff positions were proposed at the board’s June 30 meeting and were presented again on Tuesday, this time with hour and wage information.
The executive assistant at Town Hall will work 26 hours a week at an hourly rate of $28.75.
Half of the executive assistant’s time will spent working in the Town Administrator’s Office and the other half will be in Treasurer/Collector Paula Harrison’s office as the assistant treasurer/collector. This position will not be posted, as Town Administrator Diana Parsons requested that current Administrative Assistant Maggie Smith be promoted to the role, which will entail working two more hours per week.
The administrative assistant position for the Police Department was budgeted at 10 hours per week at $23.94, which Parsons said was around the starting wage for Smith when she began as an administrative assistant. This position will be posted, with a hiring committee made up of Parsons, Police Chief Chris Lannon and Selectboard Chair Katie Korby.
Funding for the 10 hours that the administrative assistant would work each week will be taken from the 24 hours a week in funding that was allotted to the Police Department for part-time officers. This would mean that only 14 hours per week would be available for part-time officers, however, Lannon said the full 24 hours are never fully used.
The police chief offered an anecdote that he “saw about 1,200 to 1,500 people just on Saturday, [July 4],” but that he felt like he could call on support if he needed it.
“I do see this as support for [Lannon] and the Police Department, too,” Korby said. “I think this 10 hours/14 hours is potentially doable.”
The administrative assistant would generally be tasked with helping with pistol permits, budgetary paperwork and any other paperwork, thus freeing up time for the chief to be in the field more. This person would not be a uniformed officer, so they would not be able to respond to calls.
Parsons said she felt comfortable reducing the number of allotted hours for part-time officers as “it’s a challenging position to fill,” and she understands “where [Lannon] is at, too, because he just needs some help.” Lannon mentioned that the part-time officer job has been posted three times with wage increases and there have not been any applicants.
While the Town Hall executive assistant position was approved unanimously without much discussion, the administrative assistant position for the Police Department was approved in a 2-1 vote. Selectboard Vice Chair Ben Eastman voted against it after some discussion.
“We ask people to be sharp on their budgets, and the first meeting of [fiscal year 2027] we’re adding a position,” Eastman said. “I’m not really on board with this.”
13 appointments made to Council on Aging
Earlier in the meeting, the Selectboard appointed 13 members to the Council on Aging, leaving two seats unfilled. In April, the Selectboard had requested letters of interest from interested individuals, regardless of whether they were current members of the council.
The town has had a Council on Aging since a bylaw was approved by voters in the 1970s. However, the vote results were not properly recorded and submitted to the Attorney General’s Office, requiring the town to vote again on a bylaw to formalize the council, which it did during a November 2025 Special Town Meeting.
The Town Meeting vote also raised the membership from 12 to 15. At the June 9 meeting, the Selectboard said it was requesting letters of interest because it was essentially forming an entirely new Council on Aging, with a mix of existing and new members.
