ORANGE — The town’s payroll will look considerably different by springtime, with both the town administrator and community development director recently announcing their impending departures.

Gabriele “Gabe” Voelker, who also serves as town treasurer, and Alexander “Alec” Wade have decided to start new chapters and have addressed their upcoming resignations with the Selectboard. Voelker will retire as town administrator and treasurer on March 3 and Wade leaves on Nov. 13, though his final day working in the town offices will be Nov. 9.

Selectboard members have expressed their regret to be losing Voelker and Wade. Voelker is retiring to spend more time with family and Wade will become Boxborough’s town planner and director of land use and permitting. Voelker’s retirement was discussed at the Selectboard’s Oct. 26 meeting and Wade’s departure was the main topic of discussion on Nov. 2.

Voelker

Voelker took the reins as town administrator when she signed a contract in the summer of 2018, having been exclusively treasurer and finance director the previous four years. She said she is not retiring as the treasurer of New Salem, where she lives, or of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District.

“I am retirement age,” she said. “I want to do the things that people want to do in retirement. I want to travel. I want to spend more time with my husband, who happens to be retired. So he’s sitting at home while I’m working.

“I will miss the progress we’re making in Orange, and the forward motion that Orange has made,” she added. “We’ve improved our finances, we’ve improved the work that we’re doing on buildings and roads, and I want that vision to carry forward.”

The town administrator’s contract requires at least four months’ notice for resignation, and Voelker gave the Selectboard an extra month.

“We thank you for that generous long notice, which allows us to take … a little bit of time to prepare for your departure,” Selectboard Chair Jane Peirce told Voelker during the Oct. 26 meeting before addressing her colleagues. “We should be posting this position and beginning the recruiting and hiring process soon so that we make sure we have somebody in place and we have a reasonable transition before Gabe flies away.”

The Selectboard worked last week to hammer out details of the job description to be posted to fill Voelker’s impending absence. Peirce recommended a salary of $100,000 to $125,000.

“I hadn’t really put a lot of thought into it but I think that’s reasonable based on what I see the town administrators making in towns of roughly our size,” Peirce said, mentioning Deerfield and Montague. “We are going to have to find the money, obviously.”

Selectboard member Richard Sheridan suggested advertising a salary of $82,000 to $125,000. He acknowledged this is a wide range but said it will generate a wide array of candidates. He said he sees no harm in starting with a lower figure and increasing it as necessary. Selectboard Clerk Pat Lussier agreed with Sheridan.

However, member Andrew Smith said he doesn’t want the $82,000 figure to “scare off people from applying.” He said his “cursory research” indicated that no town administrator makes less than about $92,000 per year.

“I don’t think we’re going to find somebody of Gabe’s caliber — or any caliber — to really help us at $82,000,” Peirce mentioned, “so why start low like that?”

When it came time to discuss the position’s roles and responsibilities, Sheridan said he feels a town administrator should have no supervision over department heads and that that duty should be handled by the Selectboard. But Peirce said the town administrator is given supervisory authority over everyone who answers to the Selectboard.

The Selectboard also opted to amend the “job environment” portion to say a town administrator “should expect to be contacted at home within reason and to respond to emergencies.” The language had previously stated the town administrator could be contacted at home at any time.

“I think that we are all guilty of contacting Gabe on weekends and at night, when we don’t really have an emergency. We have a question or a comment or something,” Peirce noted, “and I think we need to be more respectful of our professional staff, who also have lives and shouldn’t have to be working 80 hours a week.”

Sheridan made a motion to delete a bulletpoint in the job description that stipulates a town administrator provides new Selectboard members with training “including but not limited to policies, current issues and background information.” He argued that members should learn from their peers, not an appointed officeholder. The motion was adopted in a 3-1 vote.

At the Nov. 2 meeting, the Selectboard opted to spend $12,000 to have the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston handle the process of finding a replacement to recommend to the Selectboard. Voelker said the Finance Committee must now agree to that decision. The Selectboard will also post the treasurer’s position.

Wade

A Watertown resident, Wade’s new job will shave two hours off his daily commute. Still, he said his decision to leave Orange is bittersweet.

“I don’t want to leave but I know it’s the right thing for my career,” he told the Recorder.

Wade started as community development director in November 2019. He defended his master’s thesis in the winter of 2021.

The Selectboard lauded Wade at the Nov. 2 meeting, telling the 28-year-old he will be sorely missed and thanking him for his commitment.

“It’s our loss, but thank you for everything you’ve done,” said Vice Chair Tom Smith, who described Wade as kind, polite and patient.

Peirce told Wade he has been “a spectacular success in this town.” She said she took criticism when Wade was hired right out of college but said it was soon acknowledged by everyone that it was the right call. She said she always knew Wade would move on but had hoped that day was further in the future.

“Just remember when eastern Mass. starts eating you alive, you can always come home to Orange,” she joked.

Wade told Selectboard members he is sad to leave and that he is doing so with a heavy heart.

Peirce also joked that Wade’s ability to moderate Zoom meetings will be greatly missed.

“I was just going to say that,” Smith said with a laugh.

Wade said he plans to volunteer his time with the replacement hunt. He said he advises the Selectboard to search on the national level.

Voelker also praised Wade and his accomplishments.

“He has been the best thing that happened to Orange,” she told the Recorder. “He’s brought in over $10 million in grants. And so it is no wonder another town picked him up, his talent.

“It’s a good promotion,” she added. “And I wish him all the best in the world. He’s a talented young man.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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