WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday discussed how it plans to evaluate its first-year town manager.

 

The board hired Jason Hoch a little more than a year ago to replace retiring Town Manager Peter Fohlin.

 

On Monday, Chairman Andrew Hogeland reminded his colleagues that they had not been through the evaluation process in a few years.

 

"Peter was experienced and leaving, and so it just didn't happen," Hogeland said.

 

Hogeland suggested that instead of doing the evaluations on their own, the board members should actively solicit feedback from town employees who answer directly to Hoch and community groups — like Williams College and the Clark Art Institute — that have extensive interaction with Town Hall.

 

He asked Selectman Jeffrey Thomas, who said he had years of experience with "360 degree" evaluations, to help him compile targeted questions to ask the respondents.

 

"The responses will be about what's good, which I'm sure will be a lot of it, but also what are the opportunities for improvement," Hogeland said. "I think it could be done by paper. But I think the feedback might be more effective if it's a conversation in person. That could take time."

 

None of the board members at Monday’s meeting objected to the idea of taking a share of the interviews. But Selectwoman Anne O’Connor asked what would happen if a potential respondent did not feel comfortable discussing Hoch’s performance in person and preferred to submit his or her responses anonymously.

 

"I think if someone doesn’t want to talk in person but wants to drop off the completed form, I’m OK with that," Hogeland said. "I care about the feedback. I care less about who it’s from."

 

Thomas said face-to-face interviews — even in addition to written evaluations — can allow for followup questions.

 

Selectman Hugh Daley said interviews would formalize what he would have done anyway: seeking feedback from key personnel at Town Hall before developing his own evaluation.

 

The board agreed to let Hogeland and Thomas take a stab at developing survey questions and to revisit the project at a later meeting.

 

In other business on Monday, the board granted eight single-day all-alcoholic beverage licenses to Sand Springs Pool, which will replicate last summer’s successful "Friday Nights at Sand Springs" event starting on July 15.

 

The board also granted a common victualer’s license to the Fitch Grill, which plans to open this summer in the Colonial Plaza.

 

Owner Shannon Barrett and chef Rachid Kourda appeared before the board to explain their concept for the eatery, which will offer a combination of Middle Eastern and Latin cuisine — mostly during the lunch hours with possibly a few evenings.

 

"It's mostly a lunch concept," Kourda said. "It's a very fast concept."

 

Given the names of the team behind Fitch Grill, the board asked about the genesis of the name.

 

"It's a very short name," Kourda said, explaining that the creators were aiming for a name that sounded catchy. "There's no history why it's the name. … You can save money on the sign this way."

 

In other business on Monday, Hoch updated the board on the town’s efforts to generate a walkability assessment and informed it about a recently awarded Green Communities grant that totals nearly $66,000 and will help fund a town-owned electric car, an electric car charging station at Town Hall and the replacement of the boiler at the Milne Public Library.

 

Hoch also explained that the town will, for the first time, be using a "cold in-place recycling" technique on a paving project this summer. Route 43 from the Five Corners intersection to the Hancock town line will be resurfaced using the method, which grinds and recycles pavement on the spot. Hoch said 85 percent of the material used in the new road will be recycled from the old road.

 

And he reminded the board and the viewing audience on the town’s community access station, WilliNet, about the current ban on non-essential outdoor water usage between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

 

He explained that the decision about the ban comes from the water department and was precautionary, brought on by a winter with below average snowfall followed by a dry spring.

 

"This was a prudent step to take," Hoch said. "We're not at a crisis point."