The Boards of Selectmen from Ashburnham and Ashby met in the Training Room at the Ashburnham Public Safety Building to review the “experimental” trial period of sharing Ashburnham’s Town Administrator, Doug Briggs.  

This seven week trial has proved to be constructive and Selectmen are moving forward with much optimism. Ashby’s board members agree that the experience has been a positive one at a much needed time. They have been without a leader for two years and board chair Peter McMurray has been filling those shoes with the help of Jennifer Collins, secretary to the BOS. 

It goes without saying that Doug Briggs has his work cut out for him.  One of his main tasks is crafting the budget for Ashby and it will be one of his biggest challenges and will involve enormous changes for the department heads. Ashby’s budget has been a “line item budget”, setting monies aside for a specific use. Monies could not be taken from different line items within a department’s budget, even if there was money left in that budget.  

Having a bottom line budget will allow each department to manage and spend their money as needed but staying within their budget.  He hopes he is a resource for them and that they understand he is not there to criticize. Doug is also spearheading a Capital Plan for Ashby.  Ashburnham formed a Capital Planning Committee three years ago that took some time to get off the ground, but today is working well, with tweaking as budget seasons come around and requests from the town departments come in.  Free cash has been able to be put into Ashburnham’s Capital Improvement Fund, for future maintenance issues and purchases.

Ashby’s board appreciates the opportunity to have Doug in the building. It has been a learning curve for the department heads but an important time for leadership. They feel it is refreshing to have a new set of eyes and that Doug is professional, focused, disciplined and genuinely enthusiastic about doing a job he loves. Their concerns are that Doug could become overburdened. Are they taking too much of his time?  They are content, but looking to the future, is this a luxury?

Ashburnham’s Board of Selectmen calls this an exciting time for both towns.This is a great learning experience, with expectations and opportunities to see if the two towns can pull this off. They would like to push the envelope and continue adapting to the benefit of both towns.  The concerns expressed are scheduling, time management, work load and the needs of both communities for the upcoming budget season.  Can Doug handle the test?  

Doug thanked the two boards for this opportunity. His first month was hectic and scheduling needed to be buttoned down, but he is enjoying the challenge.  He thanked his administrative assistant, Sylvia Turcotte, for steering him in the right direction and keeping him focused.  He appreciates the help from Jennifer Collins as well and values the contributions they have put into the process. He wants to assess their effort and work load. Doug also commented that he has invested several weeks of time and emotion to Ashby and would like to see the process through.

The comment was made by Bill Johnson, of Ashburnham’s Advisory Board, that the two towns can’t afford not to succeed.  His comparison was like a first date, then you go steady, but nobody is getting married yet. This is a trial and all parties involved agreed that the true test will be evaluated working through the budget season. The consensus is to move forward and continue with the trial period until the end of February, at which time a joint meeting will reconvene to evaluate and decide which direction to take.

Selectmen change, town administrators change, would this regionalization of town administrators work long term and is it the best solution?  For now, all eyes are on Ashburnham and Ashby.