By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The final payout to fulfill the contract of the former Naples town manager has left town officials considering a different approach to accrued vacation time.

The Naples Board of Selectmen honored the contract and voted to pay Ephrem Paraschak more than $30,000 in accrued vacation time.

The vote took place during a special meeting on Friday, Sept. 1, prior to the Labor Day weekend. All board members were present for this vote.

Chairman Jim Grattelo spoke on the subject, saying the town should be more conservative with the vacation time of the next town manager.

“I just want to comment, moving forward, we are going to really have to take a hard look at that: To have an employee work for the town for only three years and have a payout of $30,000 — I think is extreme,” Grattelo said.

“I would be in favor of a prorated payout based on tenure like the other employees are.”

Selectman Jim Turpin studied the paperwork before him before commenting.

“It would appear that a big chunk of this is accrued vacation time. For the next town manager, we might want to consider a graduated scale for the first year,” he said.

“This is pretty generous vacation package,” he said.

Grattelo said that the allowable annual vacation days are more than most town managers would be able to take while working for a town with a small staff like Naples has.

“You would never be able to take this time off in a small town like this,” Grattelo said.

The outgoing package of the town manager required the use of two accounts. The board voted to take $16,294 out of one line item and a remaining $19,000 out of the administrative sick leave and vacation time.

According to Town Finance Director Harriet Condon, the latter account totaled $30,000, leaving about $21,000 for those needs.

During a phone interview on Tuesday, Chairman Grattelo said the town will need to build up the administrative leave and vacation fund. Additionally, as the contract is negotiated with the future town manager, the selectmen may seek another approach to vacation time, he said.