Highway director allowed to use truck

PARIS — An agreement that allows Highway Director Dan Nowell to take a town pickup truck home during the winter will be formalized, selectmen decided at their November 26 meeting.

According to Interim Town Manager Elizabeth Knox, Nowell uses the truck during the winter months, from October to April.

Nowell said he actually only uses the truck until March.

The truck allows Nowell, who does not live in Paris, to respond to inclement weather and check road conditions on his way into town, Knox said.

Nowell's use of the truck has been questioned because the practice is not documented in his employment agreement.

This wasn't the first time the issue had been brought up, Knox said – it seemed to her like the subject was rehashed every year.

Knox read a statement from highway employee Jesse Rowell, who served on Nowell's hiring committee. According to Rowell's statement, using the truck was discussed during the hiring process.

Finance Director Marjorie Risica told the board she asked former town manager Phil Tarr about the issue last year and reported Nowell was permitted to use the truck.

The problem is that the agreement was never recorded – like many town employees, Nowell doesn't have a contract.

"It's part of the negotiations he was hired on," Knox said. "It's not in a written contract format."

Board members generally agreed with Nowell's use of the truck.

"It sounds like an agreement that was made and understood by Dan, and it seems like it should remain in effect," said Board Chair Sam Elliot.

The board voted to draft a formal agreement with Nowell for use of the truck, to avoid future confusion.

Selectman Gerald Kilgore said that, in the future, any similar agreements should be recorded.

"From now on, any of this stuff, it's going to be written down," said Kilgore. "There's been a lot of mistakes in the past three years."