§ 157-19. Town Manager

(a) The Selectboard shall appoint a Town Manager in accordance with the provisions of State law and this charter. The Town Manager:

(1) May serve for a fixed or an indefinite term at the discretion of the Selectboard of the Town.

(2) Before entering upon his or her duties, shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his or her duties and shall give a bond to the Town in an amount and with sureties as the Selectboard may require.

(3) Shall be considered an executive officer of the Town removable at any time in the discretion of the Selectboard upon the Selectboard adopting a resolution providing for removal and passed with the affirmative votes of a majority of the Selectboard; the resolution may be effective immediately upon passage, or upon the expiration of a period of time set forth in the resolution.

(b) The Town Manager, subject to the requirements of State law, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Town, shall be the administrative head of all departments of the Town government, and shall be responsible for the efficient administration of the Town.

(c) The Town Manager shall have authority and it shall be the Town Manager's duty:

(1) to cause duties required of towns not committed to the care of any particular officer to be duly performed and executed;

(2) to perform all duties now conferred by law upon the Selectboard, except that he or she shall not prepare tax bills, sign orders on the General Fund of the Town other than orders for poor relief, call special or annual Town meetings, lay out highways, establish and lay out public parks, make assessments, award damages, act as a member of the Board of Civil Authority, nor make appointments to fill vacancies which the Selectboard is now authorized by law to fill; but the Town Manager shall, in all matters excepted in this subdivision, render the Selectboard assistance as it requires;

(3) to be the general purchasing agent of the Town and purchase all supplies for every department of the Town; but purchases of supplies for departments over which the Town Manager is not given control shall be made according to requisition by those departments;

(4) to have charge and supervision of all public Town buildings and their repairs; and all building done by the Town, unless otherwise specially voted, shall be done under his or her charge and supervision;

(5) to perform all the duties now conferred by law upon the Road Commissioner of the Town, including the signing of orders;

(6) to supervise and expend all special appropriations of the Town, as if the same were a separate department of the Town, unless otherwise voted by the Town;

(7) to appoint, upon merit and fitness alone, and, when the Town Manager deems necessary for the good of the Town, suspend or remove any subordinate official, employee, or agent under the Town Manager's supervision as provided for in this charter. All appointments may be without definite terms unless for provisional, temporary, or emergency service, in which case, terms shall not exceed the maximum periods prescribed by the personnel rules and regulations. The Town Manager may authorize the head of a department or of an office responsible to the Town Manager to appoint and remove subordinates in the office or department;

(8) to collect all taxes due the Town and to perform all duties now conferred by law upon the Collector of Taxes, if the Town so votes. The Town Manager shall continue to do so until the Town votes otherwise at a meeting duly warned for the purpose of voting on that question. For the collection of taxes, a Town Manager may charge and collect the same fees as a collector of taxes, and the fees collected shall be paid into the Treasury of the Town.

(d) The powers, duties, and liabilities imposed upon any other departments of the Town inconsistent with the provisions of this article shall be suspended and shall be conferred and imposed upon the Manager; wherever in the Town charter there is a reference to the Town Administrator, that reference shall be deemed to be to the Town Manager.

(e) In the event of resignation, illness, injury, death, suspension, or removal of the Town Manager, the Selectboard may appoint an Interim Town Manager to serve during any period of incapacity due to illness, injury, or temporary suspension of the Town Manager, or in the case of resignation, death, permanent suspension, or removal during the transition period in which the Selectboard is interviewing, identifying, selecting, and appointing a Town Manager. An Interim Town Manager shall have all of the powers and perform all of the duties of the Town Manager. Interim Town Managers shall serve as such at the discretion of the Selectboard and shall be appointed or reappointed for terms not to exceed 180 days. In the event of the absence of either a Town Manager or an Interim Town Manager, the acting Town Manager designated as such by the Selectboard under subsection 12(e) of this chapter may exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Town Manager. (Amended 1999, No. M-12 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. May 9, 2000; 2005, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. May 17, 2006; 2007, No. M-19 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 13, 2008.)