WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Select Board on Monday approved the contract for the next town manager.

 

After a brief executive session, the board voted 5-0 to OK the deal that Chair Andrew Hogeland negotiated with Robert Menicocci, who currently serves as the director of the Social Services Agency in Santa Clara County, Calif.

 

No terms of the contract were announced when the board returned to public session to vote on the deal.

 

Hogeland did note that Menicocci likely will not be able to begin his service in the town until July 1.

 

"[Interim town manager Charlie Blanchard] has graciously agreed to extend his contract on a much reduced basis because he has an earning limit he can't go over," Hogeland said.

 

Interim town managers frequently are retired administrators who are limited in the number of hours they can earn in a calendar year without jeopardizing their pensions.

 

Hogeland said he expects to bring the board an extension on Blanchard's contract that would see him working 10 hours per week for the town through the end of June.

 

On Monday evening, Blanchard gave the board an update on the town's project to replace its streetlights with LED fixtures.

 

He said the work began on April 19 and likely would continue through the middle of May. He also noted that the town had received some complaints about the intensity of the lights but that the issue will be addressed in due course.

 

"When they first go in, they go in at 100 percent power, but we're committed to having no more than 70 percent power for our energy savings," Blanchard said. "It's not completed. It's just the beginning of it.

 

"We wanted to let people know we're aware of some of the concerns we've seen, and they will be addressed."

 

In other business, the Select Board heard presentations from the Williamstown Fire District's Building Committee about its efforts to build a new fire station on Main Street (Route 2) and from the executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition about the non-profit's efforts to serve the residents of the region.

 

Hogeland, who serves in the Select Board's chair on the board of the town's Affordable Housing Trust, also informed his colleagues that the trust last week awarded the 21st grant given since the inception of its DeMayo Mortgage Assistance Program. The $15,000 grant will help an income-eligible first-time homebuyer purchase a home in town.