DERRY | In addition to his $114,000 annual salary, new Town Administrator Gary Stenhouse will receive a $7,500 stipend for moving costs, a $3,600 annual automobile allowance and $480 a year for his cell phone bill.

The contract, released Friday by interim Town Administrator John Moody, also includes a clause that bars Stenhouse from spending more than five hours a week teaching or on private business ventures without the Town Council's approval.

Stenhouse starts work on Monday, July 9. Under the terms of the contract, he must move to town within a year from his current home in Rochester. If he doesn't move within that time period, the Council can terminate the contract.

Councilors approved Stenhouse's two-year contract 6-1 three weeks ago. Councilor Janet Fairbanks voted not to approve the contract because she thought the severance payments proposed were too generous.

The severance clause would give Stenhouse nine months salary | nearly $86,000 | in a lump sum cash payment if he is terminated by the council within his first year on the job. If he is terminated by the council in the second year, he would get six months salary | $57,000 | also in a lump sum cash payment.

But the contract includes a clause that "employer shall have no obligation to pay the severance payment" in the event that Stenhouse is terminated for cause.

Stenhouse, 63, served as Rochester's city manager for nine years before leaving in 2002. He left his job as city manager of Rochester in 2002 after the City Council there bought out his contract for $115,000 because of disagreements.

From Rochester, Stenhouse moved on to New Hampshire Public Risk Management Exchange (PRIMEX), a pooled insurance company in Concord that provides workers' compensation and unemployment insurance to school districts and municipalities. He has been there ever since.


Contract highlights:

Two-year contract, $114,000 annual salary

Lump sum cash severance payments of nine months (nearly $86,000) salary if he is terminated without cause in the first year, and six months salary ($57,000) if he is terminated without cause in the second year.

$7,500 moving stipend, including closing costs or brokers' commission

$3,600 annual automobile allowance

$480 cell phone allowance