Select Board reviews draft town manager contract and evaluation schedule; sends language to counsel

The Select Board discussed a draft employment contract for the town manager at its April 28 meeting and agreed to send the draft to town counsel for a targeted legal review before final signature.

Board members said the draft includes an annual evaluation schedule (the board typically reviews the manager at the last board meeting in April and sets goals at the start of the fiscal year in June–July) and that performance metrics should be framed as SMART goals during the goal‑setting meetings. Members asked legal counsel to review a paragraph that would permit termination for specified forms of misconduct (the draft used language such as "felony" and "gross misconduct"); the board wanted clearer, legally vetted wording.

Select Board members also asked staff to aim for completion of counsel review in time to permit a signed contract before the town’s annual Town Meeting if possible. The board signaled consensus on most contract provisions — annual evaluation timing, inclusion of goals and objectives, and the use of a standard contract template that would apply to future town managers — but did not finalize execution that night. The board asked the town manager’s office and the town solicitor to provide a quick turnaround review and return suggested edits for the Select Board’s next meeting.