Plainfield Select Board Eyes Wage Hike for Executive Assistant, Cemetery Succession

PLAINFIELD — February 24, 2026 — Plainfield Select Board takes up staff pay equity and cemetery succession with no votes taken. At the February 24 meeting, members discussed extending the executive assistant position from 20 to 30 hours per week, which at the current rate would bring the annual salary to $37,608, an increase of $12,564, and directed staff to bring a funding proposal to the Finance Committee ahead of the annual town meeting roughly two months away. The board also learned that Merton Taylor Senior, who has maintained West Hill Cemetery and Hilltop Cemetery for decades, is stepping back from the work due to his age and health, and members set an informal target of identifying a replacement groundskeeper by April 25 — one month before Memorial Day. Ruth, a board member who also sits on the Cemetery Committee, recommended putting the maintenance work out to bid and proposed appointing Michael Mellie and Steven Bushway to the committee to help reconcile cemetery records. The board also agreed to send Temporary Police Chief Dan and one other representative to an informational meeting on Ashfield's push for regional police and fire services, with no commitment to any structural change.