WILTON — Selectmen hesitated Tuesday to accept a plan for the retirement and rehire of Assistant Town Manager Barbara Vining.

The board unanimously agreed to go into an executive session to discuss concerns raised about allowing Vining to retire from the former Maine State Retirement Program, now called Maine Public Employees Retirement System, or MainePERS, and continue with her position in Wilton.

“I don’t want to make a mistake,” Selectman Terry Brann said. “We’re setting precedence.”

Brann requested the session to discuss it further, because people brought concerns to him, he said.

The board has worked in executive sessions over the past couple months to draft a proposal and were considering accepting it Tuesday.

Selectman Paul Berkey also suggested waiting on a decision. Because the personnel matter occurred in executive sessions, he had not discussed it with townspeople so he had not received any feedback, he said.

Vining has been in the state retirement program for 40 years, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said. She wants to officially retire from it but continue her present job as full-time assistant town manager, deputy town clerk and deputy tax collector.

Under the proposal, the normal probation period for new employees would be waived and she would retain her present salary of $18.05 per hour, along with a $35 deposit to a retirement plan of her choosing, Irish said.

Any vacation or sick time left at the effective date of Nov. 1 would be cashed out. Although the most senior employee at the town office, she would restart like any new employee, she said.

Vining started working for the town days after graduating from Mt. Blue High School in 1971. She marked 40 years with the town in 2011.

She doesn’t want to leave the work, Irish said.

“And I don’t want her to,” Irish added. “She has 40 years of municipal knowledge and is a good employee.”

Resident Raymond Lagasse questioned the trend of people retiring but continuing to work.

“When someone retires, they retire,” he said.

Although people generally do give a job up when they retire, should the board go through the process of posting the job position, having it vacant for a couple weeks and then hire Barbie? Selectman Tom Saviello asked. “Why wouldn’t we hire Barbie?”

Vining is a member of Teamsters 340 union, and the board has worked on the draft with a union representative. The board agreed to discuss the concerns Tuesday, without making a decision, so Irish could relay the concerns to the union before the board reviews it again.

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