Select Board Appoints O'Donnell Highway Superintendent

Select Board · Meeting of October 13, 2026

Brookfield's Select Board voted unanimously to appoint Mark O'Donnell as highway superintendent, ending a vacancy of roughly five to six months. Vice Chair Richard A. Chaffee and Clerk Beth L. Coughlin had disagreed on finalists at an earlier session, with Chaffee backing O'Donnell for his mechanical skills and Coughlin leaning toward a candidate identified only as Devin before deferring to the town's Highway Committee's recommendation. Coughlin said a canceled skills test, scrapped over liability concerns, left her "pretty upset" about her ability to fully vet candidates.

The board settled O'Donnell's pay at an hourly rate of $44.80 with overtime eligibility rather than a flat $105,000 salary, and voted unanimously to let Town Administrator Ryan finalize terms with the board chair without another vote. Members also agreed to repost the highway administrative assistant job through the Massachusetts Municipal Association and to post a combined mechanic-operator opening.

In the full story:

• Appointing a Highway Superintendent After a Contested Search
• Compensation Structure: Salary Versus Hourly Pay and Overtime
• Refilling the Rest of the Highway Department
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 1,898 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.