#MiddleburyCT #DirectorOfPublicWorks #CFO #ChiefFinancialOfficer
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury’s Board of Selectmen, at their April 21, 2025, meeting appointed Seth Bernstein as the town’s chief financial officer and Nick Sidorick as the town’s director of public works. The vote for Bernstein was unanimous; the vote for Sidorick was two for (First Selectman Edward B. St. John and Selectman J. Paul Vance) and one against (Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr). When Public Works Director Dan Norton retired March 21, 2025, Sidorick was appointed acting public works director.
Bernstein’s contract is for five years commencing April 21, 2025, with a beginning annual salary of $115,000. His effective paid time off date is retroactive to February 14, 2022, when he was assigned to the Town of Middlebury as an employee of Twin Lakes Consulting, a staffing firm.
The contract states he receives 15 days of paid vacation each fiscal year, so he will have 15 days paid vacation due him between April 21, 2025, and June 30, 2025, and will be eligible for another 15 days on July 1, 2025.
Sidorick’s contract also is a five-year contract starting April 21, 2025. His starting annual salary is $114,503. He qualifies for 25 days of paid vacation each fiscal year. However, his is prorated,
The paid vacation schedule in the employee handbook is five days after six months, 10 days after one year, 15 days after five years, 20 days after seven years and 22 days after 11 years.
Mahr, who voted against Sidorick’s appointment, first raised concerns about it at the April 7, 2025, selectmen’s meeting when he was serving as acting public works director. She questioned whether a union employee could also serve as acting director, a nonunion position, and also asked how he could do the jobs of two positions. St. John said it is not uncommon for a union employee who will move into a nonunion position to serve on an acting basis. He said he himself had served as director of public works and first selectman at the same time.
Mahr read from the public works director job position, noting the qualifications are either having a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or a related field and being registered as a Connecticut professional engineer and surveyor with 10 years of specific work experience or having 15 years of experience and training as a public works supervisor with 10 years of experience in other related fields. She said Sidorick has four years of supervisory experience.
St. John said the same job description was used for hiring former director Norton and the key aspect is the equivalent training. He said Dan Norton was hired because he had the necessary experience and training and Sidorick was in the same boat.
When the two appointments were on the agenda for the April 21 Board of Selectmen meeting, Mahr asked for them to be tabled because she had been given the contracts when she walked into the meeting and had not had time to review them. St. John said they had been discussed at previous meetings. Mahr’s request was denied.
Mahr voted for Bernstein’s appointment, but she continued to question Sidorick’s. She said a document St. John presented as Sidorick’s resume was not an actual resume. She said it showed he became a crew leader in 2020 and in 2023 became a working foreman. She noted he did not have 15 years supervisory experience. St. John said Sidorick’s 25 years working for the town gave him the experience to handle the job.
She told Sidorick, who was present, not to take her questions personally and explained she wants to ensure he is qualified for the position because that’s what people have asked her to do. Selectman Vance said he thought Sidorick was well qualified. Public Works Commission Chairman Terry Smith said he has watched Sidorick leading crews for 20 years and he gets the job done. He said the town would make a big mistake if i did not appoint him.
St. John motioned to accept Sidorick’s contract, Vance seconded it, and the vote on the motion was St. John and Vance for it and Mahr opposed.
