Ashburnham, Ashby share administrator on trial basis

Ashburnham and Ashby are sharing the services of Town Administrator Douglas Briggs for a three-month trial period.

Previously, Briggs worked exclusively for Ashburnham. But with the town administrator position in Ashby vacant since the end of 2009, and Ashburnham looking for ways to reduce costs, selectmen in the two towns worked out an agreement enabling Briggs to serve both communities.

Briggs continues to be employed solely by Ashburnham, which has roughly 6,100 residents, about twice Ashby’s population. Ashby is paying Ashburnham $1,100 a week for Briggs’ service, an amount that constitutes about 45 percent of the position’s overall cost, according to Ed Vitone, chair of the Ashburnham Board of Selectmen.

The agreement also makes clear that Briggs is free to work on Ashby business while in Ashburnham, and vice versa.

Vitone said he is hopeful that sharing the town administrator will lead to the sharing of other services as well.

“As [Briggs] gets to know both communities well, there may be additional opportunities for cost savings,” Vitone said. “It could lead to some interesting derivative benefits for us.”

Ashby Selectman Peter McMurray agreed.

“In a small town you take little steps,” he said. “You don’t want people to get up in arms.”

In 2010, Ashby officials sought the advice of the Collins Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston on issues including the vacant town administrator position. Given the cost of hiring a full-time town administrator, the Collins Center said it would make sense to hire someone on a part-time basis, even though the per-hour rate would be somewhat higher than for a full-timer. The report added, however, that “the position should be allowed and encouraged to evolve back toward full-time” over the long run.