ADAMS, Mass. — The Northern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District is having trouble finding a new coordinator because of a limited applicant pool and inexperienced candidates.

 

Chairman Joseph Szczepaniak told board members on Thursday that the one applicant the search committee chose as a finalist backed out. 

 

"We picked someone who we thought fit the bill ... but she called after and said her employers didn't want to lose her," Szczepaniak said. "She thanked us up and down for choosing her … but I think we just worked as a bargaining chip so she could get a raise."

 

Current Coordinator Sandy Totter plans to retire Dec. 9 after giving the district a full year to find her replacement.

 

Windsor representative Douglas McNally said he did not feel comfortable hiring any of the other candidates because of poor resumes.

 

"In the candidate pool, there is nobody that I would feel comfortable offering the job to," McNally said. "We have people from travel agencies, one has a criminal justice degree and the other is from the military, but they don't have any qualifications or skills we need."

 

He suggested hiring an interim coordinator so the job can be posted when the local colleges hold their graduations next year.

 

"Next spring there is going to be a whole crop of college grads with environmental science degrees who will have no place to go," he said. "Someone who is young, enthusiastic and able to write grants ... with a fire in their belly."

 

He said the board can advertise at local colleges with environmental science programs. 

 

Szczepaniak said he was concerned that a younger coordinator would just use the job as a stepping stone and move on after a few years.

 

McNally said he would be happy get three to five years out of someone and they could perhaps hire a local graduate who wants to stay in town.

 

But Totter said she may have a candidate after hearing from contacts in the state Department of Environmental Protection about someone suited for a smaller position, such as the district's coordinator.

 

The district members asked her to check with the DEP but also agreed to repost the position with a Dec. 1 deadline and to contact local colleges because they are running against a tight timeline.

 

Totter said, upon her departure, she is gifting the district her specially made machine that crushes and drains paint cans, and allows her to pack it in drums to save money.

 

She did ask that if they ever decide to stop using it, she would want it back because her late husband built it for her.

 

"I do have an unreasonable emotional attachment to the machine," Totter said. "My husband built it and that engine was the last gift he ordered for me because he wanted me to just be able to turn the key instead of ripping a cord."

 

Adams representative Edward Driscoll said he remembers when they tested the prototype and the mess it made.

 

"I remember we used just regular paint in the initial lab test, unlike the new paint it had a thickness on the bottom," he said. "It exploded all over us and the side of the Cheshire Highway Department building." 

 

The commissioners said they have no issue giving the machine back and that they will take good care of it.

 

"We will keep it safe and you can come visit it anytime you like," Williamstown representative Timothy Kaiser said after agreeing to store the machine in the Williamstown Department of Public Works facility.