Selectboard pauses to celebrate town administrator’s first year

(This story has been corrected. The date of the selectboard meeting it covers was Oct. 7)

The members of the Charlotte Selectboard recessed briefly in the middle of their meeting on Monday, Oct. 7, for chocolate cake.

Photo by Scooter MacMillan From left, selectboard members Kelly Devine, town administrator Nate Bareham, Frank Tenney, Natalie Kanner and Jim Faulkner celebrate Bareham's first year on the job.
Photo by Scooter MacMillan
From left, selectboard members Kelly Devine, town administrator Nate Bareham, Frank Tenney, Natalie Kanner and Jim Faulkner celebrate Bareham’s first year on the job.

The occasion for the variation in normal municipal procedure was to celebrate Nate Bareham’s first year as town administrator. Appropriately, the cake came adorned with one candle in the shape of a number one.

Selectboard chair Jim Faulkner said that Bareham has a hard job at which he has performed excellently.

Board member Kelly Devine said, “Not only has Nate been an excellent employee, but he came in at a pretty difficult time, following somebody that was a really long-term employee.”

Bareham’s first year drew to a close with a tough summer that brought increased responsibilities stemming from July flooding, particularly dealing with the bureaucratic responsibilities necessary to get Spear Street reopened after Muddy Brook carved a canyon in the important Charlotte thoroughfare.

These responsibilities have meant he has been working 12-14 hour days and some on weekends.

Speaking of town employees, after an executive session the board returned to open public meeting to approve a motion accepting the resignation of the town planner. Larry Lewack’s last day on the job will be Dec. 1. The motion also contained a note that the selectboard does not intend to enter a contract for work after his final day.

Photo by Dave Speidel In addition to the damage where Spear Street was washed out by Muddy Hollow Brook in the early July flood, there is a section about 100 yards uphill where the road sloughed off because of the saturated soil.
Photo by Dave Speidel
In addition to the damage where Spear Street was washed out by Muddy Hollow Brook in the early July flood, there is a section about 100 yards uphill where the road sloughed off because of the saturated soil.

The board voted to open bids on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 5:30 p.m. for repairs to the Spear Street damage at Muddy Hollow Brook. If the board has questions or problems with the bids that are received, those will be addressed at a meeting the next day, Oct. 23, at 5:30 p.m., but that meeting will only be held if necessary.

The bids can’t be opened at the next regular meeting of the selectboard on Oct. 21 because the town is required to post the request for proposals for a full two weeks, and that would be a day less than that requirement.

The bid document says the work is to be complete on or before April 6, 2025. The construction will include installing two 10-foot-diameter culverts with concrete headwalls and wingwalls. A debris deflector, which is a device just upstream of the culverts to keep out debris like limbs and trees, will also need to be installed as part of the project.

This work will not include fixing the road just south of where Spear Street crosses Muddy Hollow Brook. A section of road there sloughed off during the flooding because the ground was so saturated, Faulkner said.

That repair will require another request for proposal to get bids for that work.

Faulkner said he hopes to see dirt being moved within three weeks.


If you enjoy The Charlotte News, please consider making a donation. Your gift will help us produce more stories like this. The majority of our budget comes from charitable contributions. Your gift helps sustain The Charlotte News, keeping it a free service for everyone in town. Thank you.

Bill Regan, Chair, Board of Directors