Lowville looking to hire full-time administrator

LOWVILLE — Village officials have decided they will stick with a full-time administrator.

Deputy Mayor Charles W. Truax Jr. at Wednesday's Board of Trustees meeting reported that Mayor Mary E. Youngs and the village's personnel committee — of which he is a member — met last week and chose to advertise for a new administrator. The first of the advertisements ran in Wednesday morning's Watertown Daily Times, he said.

"We're looking forward to the deluge of resumes from highly qualified individuals," Mr. Truax said.

The committee did have some discussion on whether to hire another full-time administrator or seek someone to handle those duties on a part-time basis, he said.

However, Mr. Truax said that regaining a third full-time person in the village office would make it easier to separate duties and increase accountability, as village auditors recommend. A full-time administrator also would be able to provide more time and dedication to the position and the village's needs, he said.

"In my opinion, that's exactly what we need," Mr. Truax told the trustees.

Former Village Administrator Eric J. Virkler resigned from the post a couple of weeks ago after being hired as Lewis County's economic development director.

Trustees on Wednesday, by 5-0 votes, also appointed Mr. Virkler's former deputy, Pamela Z. Roes, as interim clerk/treasurer and the office's other clerk, Wendy Snowden, as interim deputy clerk/treasurer.

Village trustees in December 2004 created the administrator position to handle day-to-day management of the village, with the intent that the permanent clerk/treasurer would eventually assume those duties.

Mr. Virkler in January 2005 resigned from his trustee seat to take the new position, and his salary was set at $46,000, or $5,000 more than the clerk/treasurer salary had been. His annual salary from the village was set at $48,700 this year.

Trustees on Wednesday also voted to again remove the one- and two-hour parking restrictions along State and Bostwick streets after 2 p.m. July 21 for this year's Lewis County Fair Parade. The board has passed similar motions for the past several years.

This year's Lewis County Fair is scheduled to run from July 21 to 25.