BARTON VILLAGE – The trustees at Barton Village are scrambling to replace key personnel following the retirement of Amy Braun (finance manager) and the termination of business manager Vera LaPorte. The timing is problematic, as the Village will soon undergo two major projects. A three million grant will be used for repairs to the hydro electric generator, and an upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant is in process.
Braun will assist the Village on a part time basis as a finance manager. Crystal Currier, who formerly worked for the Village through VSSPA, will also help on a part time basis.
What the Village needs is a business manager. For the short term, the trustees met with the Orleans Village trustees on January 23 to discuss sharing John Morley. In Orleans Village, Morley oversees the roads and buildings, the water and wastewater treatment plants, and the electric utility.
While Barton Village initiates the process of advertising for a business manager and a full time finance manager, the trustees are asking for Morley to oversee their Village as well.
“We are reaching out to you for help,” Barton Village Trustee Chair Gina Lyon said at the joint meeting of the trustees. “We want to collaborate and work together, before we hire a replacement.”
After explaining their plan, Lyon proposed Morley oversee Barton Villages employees and projects. Orleans Village trustee Eric Lanou responded favorably to the request. He said they would be more than glad to help.
Morley didn’t want to sign a contract. He will keep a time card of his hours and send an invoice every couple of weeks. Morley relies heavily on Orleans Village’s employees to meet the community’s needs and wants to build the same relationship with Barton Village.
The Barton Village trustees agreed Morley should meet with the employees to establish a rapport and learn what they do, and how they’re doing it.
Orleans Village and Barton Village already work together. The Orleans Electric Department (OED) employees manage Barton Village’s electric grid, which has been quite successful.
Since OED has taken over the operations of Barton Electric Department, the number of outages and the duration of outages has declined, said Morley.
Morley will attend Barton Village trustee meetings to keep them updated. He wants the opportunity to meet with residents of Barton Village.
“We need to know what they want,” Morley said. “We work for them. People need to feel like things are being taken care of.”
Morley will start overseeing Barton Village immediately. Contact the Barton Village office to leave messages for Morley.
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