Dover Select Board Awards Town Administrator Maximum $10,000 Bonus for Fiscal 2026

Select Board · Meeting of June 30, 2026

Dover Select Board closes fiscal year with $10,000 administrator bonus and new budget software. The board unanimously awarded Town Administrator Michael Blanchard the maximum contractual bonus of $10,000 at its June 30 meeting after Human Resources Director Robin Tocino presented evaluation scores ranging from 4.4 in staff recruitment to 4.78 in professional development across a five-point scale, with board members citing three consecutive years of progress in financial stabilization and transparency. The board also voted 3-0 to purchase ClearGov budgeting software — used by more than 40 Massachusetts municipalities — which Finance Director Chris said will replace a cumbersome Excel-based model, enable multi-year financial forecasting, and generate a public-facing digital budget book automatically as the budget is built.

Additional unanimous votes approved a Woodard and Curran stormwater engineering contract for MS4 year 9, a solid waste hauling renewal with BP Trucking at held FY26 pricing, an Aponte and Aponte assistant town accountant agreement at half the prior-year cost, and a five-member Town Meeting Study Committee including Board Chair Dave Havlin. The board entered executive session on labor negotiations with the Dover Police Association and Public Employees Local Union 1116, and on litigation strategy regarding M. O'Connor Contracting's threatened claim over the Community Center Building Project.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,377 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of June 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.