HEBRON — Last May Hebron’s Select Board convened an ad hoc committee to assess the town’s municipal management structure, only to dissolve it in September without taking any position on its recommendations.

Now, the committee chair, Butch Asselin, is requesting the board place four of those recommendations on the agenda for its Nov. 25 business meeting and include them on Hebron’s next annual town meeting warrant which will take place in March.

Seated on the ad hoc committee were Asselin; Dennis Lajoie, Norway’s former town manager; Robert Faunce, a retired regional planner with Lincoln County; Jim Reid, a businessman who has served several terms on Hebron’s Select Board as well as with its volunteer fire department; William Clough, a retired electrician; Dick Deans, a longtime selectman and representative with Oxford County agricultural business and county entities; and Josh Hounsell a businessman who has volunteered in community capacities.

The committee researched governance for several towns and analyzed their populations, public services and management structures, including 32 that already utilize administrative assistants.

After reviewing and assessing Hebron’s oversight needs for its municipal office, public works, public safety and recreation departments, the ad hoc committee found it would be in the town’s best interest to establish an administrative assistant position that would report to the Board of Selectmen.

The admin’s responsibilities would include being the public-facing official to field and respond to residents’ concerns; supervise the town’s seven employees; facilitate annual budgeting; research and recommend grant opportunities for the Select Board to consider; and be the point person for additional duties such as road commissioner, treasurer, human resources and other administrative management.

Currently, Hebron’s three Select Board members divide the functions of running the town. Gino Valeriani, the board chair, oversees the public works department, Elizabeth Olsen handles town office administration and human resources roles and Derek Pike is responsible for transfer station operations.

A total of $30,000 in stipends is paid to the selectpersons. The board chair, which rotates to a different member annually, receives $15,000, with $7,500 going to each of the other two.

“For a community of less than 2,000 people, the selectmen in Hebron receive a stipend that is unheard of in similar or even larger communities,” Asselin informed the Advertiser Democrat in a statement. “The committee recommended they be reduced to $2,500 for the chair and $1,500 each for the remaining two board members.”

Two of Hebron’s selectpersons are employed full-time.

The committee found that none of the three are available to physically manage town employees and facilities during business hours. The committee projected that an administrative assistant could assume up to 90% of the responsibilities currently handled by the board.

In its assessment, Asselin said the committee also looked at the functions of a town manager and a town administrator in other towns before determining that a community of Hebron’s population fits most aptly with the duties of a municipal administrative assistant.

Whereas a town manager would command a compensation package of more than $100,000, an administrative assistant’s range would be $30,000-$50,000 less.

According to Asselin, Hebron’s Select Board disagreed that a full-time assistant is necessary and questioned that the town would be able to recruit a qualified candidate in a salary range between $50,000-$70,000.

But in acknowledgement of the town’s needs as outlined by the committee, selectmen suggested that hiring someone to work up to 28 hours a week would be feasible.

The committee’s meeting agendas and minutes, the Select Board’s meeting discussions of the committee’s work, as well as its written response to the ad hoc committee’s recommendations are all posted on the Meeting Minutes page of  town’s website, https://hebronmaine.org/committees-other-officials/meeting-minutes/.

The ad hoc committee was dissolved Sept. 9. Since then, its members have advocated for informational mailers to be sent to all homes in Hebron and that public meetings be scheduled to solicit questions and feedback from residents.

“We are still talking as a group,” Asselin said. “We asked that the Select Board prepare town meeting warrant articles based on our recommendations…we want the public to know about our work and our progress.”

He also told the Advertiser Democrat that if the board does not take any action toward bringing the committee’s personnel recommendations – along with a hiring process and funding the position –  to town meeting in March, he will circulate a petition to voters to have his drafted articles added to the town meeting warrant.

Asselin will present the articles when Hebron’s Select Board meets on Nov. 25 at its town office, located at 351 Paris Road.