Contract signed with new town head

By L.E. Crowley
Town Correspondent

Selectmen have approved a three-year contract with new Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi.

Selectmen Chairman Joseph Norton said the contract was signed before Tuesday night’s selectmen’s meeting. “It will be interesting and exciting to have a new administrator,” Norton said. “It’s a new era.”

Vinchesi’s contract is for three years, and has a six-month probationary period, Norton said.
She will be paid $124,000 a year, and officially begin work July 20.

Vinchesi, 48, was chosen two weeks ago from four finalists to replace longtime administrator Richard Agnew—who announced in January he would retire at the end of this month, after 19 years on the job.

Norton said Vinchesi will work a few days a week leading up to her July 20 start date, and will commute from Conway, a nearly two-hour drive, or stay with relatives until July 20, when she will move into an apartment she has rented.

Agnew will likely earn a consulting fee for a few days work after his retirement so he can help Vinchesi get up to speed on town issues and legal matters, Norton said.