DIXFIELD – Selectmen on Monday unanimously agreed to continue sharing a town manager with neighboring Mexico until Oct. 1. The decision was made after a 10-minute closed session with most of the town’s department heads.
They also agreed to send letters to the eight applicants for a full-time town manager position stating that the town will stay with the interim town manager for now.
Selectmen Chairman Tony Carter said the Town Manager Hiring Committee met last week to review the applications. The selectmen and several residents are members of that committee.
John Madigan has been serving as town manager of the two towns for about six weeks. Before the sharing agreement, he had served as full-time town manager for Mexico for about six months. He said he would discuss the Dixfield board’s decision to retain him as interim town manager at the Aug. 24 meeting of the Mexico Board of Selectmen.
Before the executive session, the Sun Journal objected to it. Madigan said he believed Maine law allowed the board to discuss the issue in executive session.
He excused himself from the session, stating that he wanted the department heads to feel free to give their opinions.
Meeting with selectmen were Peggy Malley, library director; Scott Blaisdell, fire chief; Duane Powers, water department director; Tim Hanson, public works director; Charlotte Collins, deputy treasurer; and Vickie Carrier, deputy town clerk.
When Oct. 1 nears, the boards of the two towns will meet together to discuss whether the arrangement should continue.
Madigan said he also plans to meet in a closed session with the Dixfield board before going ahead with a full-time, permanent arrangement.
During the remaining interim period, Carter was authorized to work out Dixfield’s financial portion of vacation time, town manager workshops, or any other town manager-related activity or fee with Mexico officials.
Madigan said leading both towns has gone pretty well so far.
“Some days I need a little more time to do the jobs. Sometimes I’m bombarded with both. Anything that is critical or has a deadline gets first priority. We are working on an awful lot of issues,” he said.
Madigan, a Rumford resident, had also served as the town manager of Rumford for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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