MINOT – Gregory E. Gill of Livermore Falls will begin duties as Minot’s first town administrator on Feb. 2.

In making the announcement, Selectmen Chairman George “Buster” Downing expressed relief that the board will have the help it needs to deal with the complexity of ever changing legal and governmental regulations that seem to proliferate daily.

“Times change. Minot has grown. It’s one of the most rapidly growing towns in the state. We’ve outgrown what can be handled by a part-time non-professional board. Greg Gill stood out in the dozen or so who applied. He’s well-rounded and I think he’ll be able to hit the ground running.”

Gill has worked in town government since 1989. He was the town manager of Readfield, serving in that capacity since 1994. Prior to that he was community development, code enforcement officer, building inspector and assistant town manager in Livermore Falls.

During these years, Gill has taken courses to become certified or licensed to perform a broad range of municipal duties. He is a state licensed code enforcement officer, building inspector, interior and exterior plumbing inspector. He has taken taxation and assessing courses, levels one through four, courses for emergency management. He has been director and communications officer through the Maine Emergency Management Agency, is a Maine Department of Transportation road scholar, is certified as a treasurer, tax collector and town clerk.

“As a manager, it’s hard to direct someone unless you know how to do it. That’s why I took all the courses I did,” Gill said.

Gill, who has associate’s degrees in applied sciences and in electronic engineering technology, is presently in a bachelor of science degree program in public administration at the University of Maine, Augusta.

“At the beginning, instead of enrolling in a degree program, I was taking courses that directly affected my ability to be a town manager. The outcome is over 150 college credit hours, but courses are from several degree programs. Now I have 10 more courses, so I guess I’m a junior,” said Gill.

Gill, from a family that worked the granite quarries, grew up in Jay, graduated from Jay High School and, after Wentworth College, owned and operated a furniture restoration business with four employees for 10 years in Jay. He sold that in 1985 and went to work at International Paper until the strike 3 years later.

He and his wife, Polly, who teaches English at Livermore Falls High School, have two grown sons.

In his off-duty hours, Gill, who has a camp in Wilton, fishes, does basic carpentry work and tinkers with some 1960s automobiles.

Although Gill’s first official day on the job will be Feb. 2, he is reviewing the budget requests that will be going before March town meeting voters, and he has been tapped by selectmen to lead a comprehensive review of the town’s ordinances.

“Ordinances are living documents; they need to constantly be updated. I’ll start there. I’m hear to listen to the selectmen, learn what their priorities are, and what they want me to do.”

Commenting on first impressions of Minot, Gill said. “I’m looking forward to going to work in Minot. I chose it over a couple other towns because mostly of who is on the board and the sort of people I’ve met, very dedicated people, ordinary folk who care about and are interested in their town. That’s the kind of person I am and it’s why I want to be here.”