North Brookfield interviews Adam Lamontaine for town administrator position

The North Brookfield Board of Selectmen interviewed Adam Lamontaine on Aug. 25 about his record as a municipal manager and his plans if hired as North Brookfield’s town administrator.

Lamontaine, who currently serves as chief administrative officer in Phillipston and was town administrator in Templeton until March 17, 2025, emphasized fiscal management, building disposition and grant-seeking as core parts of his experience. “All 32 articles passed in roughly an hour,” he said of a recent Phillipston town meeting, citing the speed with which that community’s warrant and budget were approved. He described leading a disposition of an old school building that he said sold for $400,000 and attracted what he called a $30,000,000 private investment.

The board pressed Lamontaine on finances and budget tools. He described boosting Templeton’s stabilization account from about $700,000 to roughly $1,500,000 and said he had reduced reliance on one-time funds the town had previously used (he said the town had used up to $900,000 in one-time monies in past budgets). Lamontaine recommended consolidation of departmental management as a cost-saving measure and cited options such as revising health insurance cost-sharing and creating an infrastructure stabilization account. He said detailed recommendations would follow a review of North Brookfield’s budget.

Lamontaine discussed grant experience and community development. He said he worked on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applications and other state and federal programs and that he had created a grant-writer position in Templeton to centralize applications. He noted Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding as a resource where available and told the board that without CPA a town can use stabilization, free cash or other budget priorities to provide required local matches for some grants.

On personnel and governance, Lamontaine described a leadership style he characterized as “caring but effective.” He said he emphasizes follow-up on resident complaints and uses written records (email) to require department responses. He described negotiating union contracts in Templeton, conducting wage and compensation studies, and using those studies as tools in bargaining and recruitment.

Board members and audience members asked how Lamontaine would manage the job timetable if hired. He told the board he has discussed the possibility of serving both Phillipston and North Brookfield, saying he would schedule Phillipston work around Wednesday meetings and North Brookfield duties on other weekdays and would not do Phillipston work on North Brookfield time. He said he would raise the issue with both boards if the workload required a different arrangement.

Residents and committee members at the meeting asked about local priorities the candidate would pursue. Lamontaine identified the school district as a significant issue for the town, noting regionalization as an option that could change eligibility for certain transportation dollars and would require a feasibility study and public engagement. He also suggested maintaining and marketing town-owned properties to attract development, and using the town website and other outreach to list available properties and communicate with residents.

No hiring motion or formal action on the town administrator position was taken at the meeting. The board concluded the session with a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote.

What happened next: The interview closed with candidate remarks thanking the board for the opportunity. Any final decision on hiring, further interviews or next steps were not announced at the meeting.