Selectmen signed interim TA's contract
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Selectmen signed a formal contract with Interim Town Administrator Paul Boushell in July as he replaces Town Administrator Kevin Paicos who has been deployed with the Army National Guard to the Middle East.

Selectmen Chairman Mark Carlisle said the contract was finalized about three weeks ago but because of scheduled vacation it took awhile for all three selectmen to sign it.

"It was pretty close to Kevin's," Carlisle said.

Boushell will receive a salary of $82,500 for the year.

Boushell will have to hold regular office hours during the week but can take compensatory time for evening and weekend hours, excluding regular selectmen's meetings, according to the contract.

"He receives an additional $8,500 because he doesn't take health insurance," Carlisle said.

The contract also addresses Boushell's status as an interim administrator and the unpredictability of Paicos' deployment. It is expected that Paicos will return to the United States next summer.

Boushell's contract with the town runs through July 16, 2008, but is "subject to the military leave and of absence of Kevin Paicos."

The contract includes a provision that states it is automaticly terminated if Paicos returns early.

"It's highly unlikely, but we did think about that," Carlisle said.

There is also a clause in the contract that allows it to be extended if Paicos' return is delayed. Town officials have to provide written notice of their desire not to renew the contract with Boushell by March 1, 2008, or it will automatically renew until Paicos' return.

If Boushell does serve as interim town administrator for more than a year, he and the selectmen will conduct a formal evaluation.

Boushell will have to give the town 60 days notice if he wishes to terminate the contract at any point.

The selectmen allotted $500 car allowance to Boushell for the first four months of his employment or until he moved within 15 miles of town as part of the contract.

"It's already been terminated because he's moved," Carlisle said.

Boushell moved to town at the beginning of August.

"He had already made it clear (he was moving)," Carlisle said. "Our safety value was to limit the amount of money we'd give in the car thing."

The town does not pay Paicos' salary while he is deployed so Boushell's salary will come under money that was appropriated during the May 2007 Annual Town Meeting.