By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

BURRILLVILLE — A member of the Town Council subcommittee negotiating a new employment contract for Burrillville Town Manager Michael C. Wood said talks with Wood are going smoothly and that the subcommittee is anticipating having a provisional contract in place by the end of the month.

"It's going well," said Nancy F. Binns, Town Council president and one of three members of the negotiating subcommittee. "Both sides have been very candid and we haven't hit any real impasses."
The committee has held two negotiation sessions with Wood since his job performance evaluation by the Town Council on Nov. 7. Wood earned high marks on the evaluation.
On a scale of 1 to 10 he was given an overall score of 8 after being graded on specific criteria in an evaluation form the council used to rank how well the manager is doing in specific areas, including interaction with the council and town departments, and how well he is following goals and objections.
Following the evaluation, which was facilitated by Personnel Board Chairman James Moran, the council voted to appoint Binns and Councilwomen Margaret L. "Peggy" Dudley and Cynthia L. Roe to a subcommittee to review the results of the evaluation with Wood and to negotiate a new contract.
"We've had two sessions amongst the members of the subcommittee and two sessions mwith the town manager and I think we've come to reasonable agreement on a lot of issues, except one item in the area of retirement, which we still need to get some facts and figures on," Binns said. "But other than that, it's going very well."
The subcommittee also wants to meet with Town Solicitor Timothy Kane to review charter issues as they relate to the contract, she said.
Binns said she is hopeful that a transitional contract for Wood will be in place by the end of December and that a formal agreement will be sent to the Town Council for ratification in January.
Wood is completing his tenth year as Burrillville's town manager and is currently earning just over $100,000 a year. His current contract expired last year, but the council granted a one-year extension that expires sometime next year.
The council had to decide by the end of December whether to offer Wood a new contract before the current agreement runs out.
Before taking the town administrator's job in Burrillville in 1997 at what was then a salary of $57,000, Wood, a 1976 University of Rhode Island graduate, held similar posts in other communities.