| Tonia Moxley

tonia.moxley@roanoke.com, 381-1675

CHRISTIANSBURG -- The town council has begun contract negotiations with longtime Town Manager Lance Terpenny.

The council held its first discussion Tuesday of a draft employment contract submitted by Terpenny at a hastily-called closed session.

Over his 14 years as town manager, Terpenny has served under the town charter, which allows the council to dismiss him at any time, for any reason, without financial penalty.

Town officials denied The Roanoke Times' Freedom of Information Act request for the draft last week.

But, according to a copy obtained by the newspaper, Terpenny would serve for 38 months beginning July 1 and ending Sept. 1, 2013.

He would be entitled to a lump sum payment equal to the remaining time of the contract at the current rate of pay if dismissed without cause during that time.

His annual base salary was listed as $128,125.04.

Terpenny would also be entitled to a minimum of one year of health, life and disability insurance benefits under the draft contract.

Ballengee characterized Tuesday's discussion as the beginning, not the end, of negotiations.

"It's a model contract," Ballengee said Wednesday. "The attorney is going to draw up a [second] contract for council to consider. There are a lot of things in that [draft] contract that we wouldn't honor."

Ballengee also said that rumors that some council members sought to circumvent the normal September reappointment of the town manager were unfounded.

"The timing is right" to begin the negotiations, Ballengee said. "We don't have too much time before September rolls around."

Serving without a contract is a risk that most town, city and county managers in Virginia no longer take, according to Mark Flynn of the Virginia Municipal League.

In fact, it has become "very common" for municipal executives to enter into employment contracts or agreements that provide some financial protection from arbitrary dismissal, Flynn said.

Blacksburg, Radford and Montgomery County have employment contracts or agreements with their top executives, although none include specific term limits or give as generous a severance as that proposed in Terpenny's.

Blacksburg Town Manager Marc Verniel and Montgomery County Administrator Craig Meadows are entitled to four months of severance pay, as well as some benefits. Radford City Manager David Ridpath would receive one year of severance pay. All three have been in their positions fewer than five years.

Ballengee said he believes the council will eventually come to a compromise.

The consideration of the contract caused some controversy Tuesday. Councilman Henry Showalter made a motion to remove the closed session from the agenda and called for the council to reschedule.

Council members Ann Carter and Brad Stipes voted with Showalter to remove it from the agenda. But the remaining members, including Ballengee, voted to proceed.

Newly elected Councilman Cord Hall, who along with Steve Huppert will be sworn in on Sept. 1, rose to take issue with the procedure used to close the meeting. He said not enough information about the subject of the closed session was given to satisfy state sunshine laws. Ballengee then clarified that the meeting would pertain to Terpenny's employment.