New job possibility for Lenox’s Federspiel

LENOX – After almost 14 years on the job, it looks like Town Manager Gregory  T. Federspiel will be stepping down from his post to take another position.

Town Manager Federspiel has received a conditional offer to be the new town administrator of Manchester by-the-Sea, Mass., a community near Gloucester in the eastern part of the state.

Although a final offer hasn’t been made yet, and the deal could still fall through, Town Manager Federspiel has informed the staff at town hall and Lenox’s selectmen he intends to take the position if terms are reached.

The reaction in Lenox’s government to his decision has been quite supportive.

“He’s doing the right thing for him and his family,” said Lenox Selectman Edward P. Lane in comments to The Beacon, adding Town Manager Federspiel’s decision had his personal blessing.

Selectman Lane went on to praise Town Manager Federspiel’s performance as Lenox’s town manager, saying it took a special person to do the job.

Similar remarks were made by Board of Selectmen Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler.

“I basically said, ‘Good for you,’” said Chairman Fowler, when recalling his reaction to the town manager informing him he’d been offered a new position. “Not good for us, but good for him.”

The chairman went on to say that the board had complete confidence in Town Manager Federspiel, as evidenced by their approval of a new three-year contract for him last year.

“Now we have to start thinking…about the process and where to go,” said the chairman, speaking of the process the selectmen would have to go through to find a new town manager.

Chairman Fowler said he expected the board of selectmen to hire an agency to vet candidates, and that there would be many of them: “We’ll do the best job we can to find the best candidate.”

The chairman also expressed a preference for tackling the issue after this year’s town meeting: “That would be a good time to begin our new plan…of how to seek a replacement.”

As for how this process might begin, the chairman said that at one of the selectmen’s next meetings, a special meeting would probably be announced. At this special meeting, the selectmen would likely go into executive session almost immediately, in order to discuss how to go about hiring a new town manager.

“I’m happy for Greg if that’s what he wants,” said Selectman Channing Gibson, when asked his thoughts on the town manager’s likely departure. “I’m disappointed for us in the sense that I think Greg’s a great town manager and I’ll be sorry to lose him; it’ll be hard to replace him, but I wish him the best, obviously.”

Selectman Gibson said the select board had two steps in front of them: How they’d handle the interim, and what they’d do afterwards.

“I want him to stay as long as he can stay,” said Selectman Gibson. “I’d like to have a good chance to figure out how to handle the interim.”

All three of the selectmen The Beacon spoke to said they didn’t know Town Manager Federspiel was pursuing the position in Manchester by-the-Sea until he informed them on April 11.

“But I knew he was looking,” said Chairman Fowler, citing his seeking a position as Ipswich’s town manager last year, which he narrowly missed out on.

Lenox’s selectmen weren’t the only people struck by the news of the town manager’s likely departure.

“I think it’s probably a wonderful opportunity for him, it’s a beautiful place,” said Planning Board Chairwoman Kathleen McNulty-Vaughan. “We’re going to lose a lot of knowledge here, and I think that people underestimate how much he does, so when he’s gone, we’ll realize the loss as a community.”

Town Manager Federspiel said the process that led to him getting the conditional offer from Manchester by-the-Sea started in February.

When asked if the decision to take it had been easy, he said that it hadn’t.

“If I could…have family be located as close to Lenox…there’d be no need…to relocate,” said Town Manager Federspiel, who acknowledged being closer to family as the primary reason he was interested in moving.

The town manager has sisters in the eastern part of the state, and relocating to Manchester by-the-Sea would allow him to live closer to his mother in New Hampshire.

If everything goes through with Manchester-by-the-Sea, Town Manager Federspiel expects to stay Lenox’s town manager until either the middle or the end of June.

“Oh, absolutely,” said the town manger, when asked whether he expected to be in his current position for this year’s town meeting.

Lenox’s town meeting will take place on May 8 of this year.

Town Manager Federspiel also said that he would still visit The Berkshires, noting the good friends and relationships he had in the area: “That’s the hardest part…saying goodbye to those relationships.”

“I hope people think it was a good run, if it turns out that I leave,” Town Manager Federspiel told The Beacon. “If it turns out I stay, I’m very happy to stay.”

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on April 18, 2013. Filed under Community News,Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry