Finance panel backs water hire, keeps officers
Finance Committee · Meeting of September 22, 2026
Townsend Finance Committee reappoints its officers and backs a Water Department hiring-freeze exception. Chair Don Hayes, Vice Chair Maryjane Churchville and Clerk Carol Hoffses were unanimously renominated to their posts, and the seven-member board voted unanimously to recommend the Select Board allow the Water Department to fill a vacant foreman position, funded through the Water Enterprise Fund. Member Kathleen Spofford, who attended a department meeting on the hire, said the internal candidate "knows the systems, he knows the people." The committee also named Maryjane Churchville to continue on the Properties Committee and Carol Hoffses to the Capital Planning Committee, and discussed roughly $27,000 identified for repairs to a town library building.
Member Randee Rusch proposed researching state and local law to get the committee included earlier in union contract negotiations, an idea member David Walker first raised last year. The board set its next meeting for Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,015 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of September 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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