MEXICO – Hiring Mexico Town Manager John Madigan as a half-time town manager for Rumford may be in the near future for the two towns.

Combining services, goals and possibly governments is inevitable, Madigan said he believes.

So, too, do most selectmen from his town and from neighboring Rumford. The two boards met Tuesday night to take a different look at regionalizing.

During the past two years, they’ve looked at combining one or two departments, which hasn’t netted much. Now, some believe working from the top may be the way to go, and with Rumford without a town manager right now, some believe this is the perfect opportunity.

“Eventually we’re going to have to combine services and operations,” Mexico selectmen’s Chairwoman Barbara Laramee said.

Following a 90-minute meeting, the two Boards of Selectmen agreed to announce to their respective residents during next week’s board meetings that serious consideration is being given to sharing Madigan in the leadership position for a year or so.

In that time, the towns would organize several committees comprised of residents and selectmen to study the public works, police and fire departments, and any other department that could benefit from consolidating.

“This would be doable for a year. In that time, every level of service would be studied,” Madigan said.

He provided copies of an interlocal agreement between three towns in Aroostook County that share one Board of Selectmen, pubic works department and other municipal entities.

An interlocal agreement could be one option for Rumford and Mexico, with the funding share and other responsibilities clearly spelled out for each town.

Another option would be a merger of the two towns. The study groups would provide the information for each option before a new way of governing or operating was adopted.

An outside expert could be hired to help the study or merger process. Funding would come from the two towns that would save some money by hiring Madigan to manage both. The state also has grants available to help towns find ways to share services, Madigan said.

In the meantime, Madigan would manage both towns.

“We really need someone who knows what they are doing,” Rumford board Chairman Jim Rinaldo said. Madigan served as Rumford town manager from 1985-1992.

“The door is open. We might as well step in,” Rumford Selectman Arthur Boivin said.

Madigan had also been a part of an experiment between the towns of Mexico and Dixfield where he served as manager of both towns for nearly a year. That experiment didn’t work because so much of the day-to-day operation consumed so much time that Madigan wasn’t able to tackle long-term planning.

Madigan believes Mexico and Rumford have sufficient staff so that his time could be spent on long-term projects.

The two boards tentatively set a meeting for March 5 to work out a contract agreement with Madigan. If he is confirmed as manager for both towns, then a public informational meeting would be held later in March to give residents a chance to ask questions about the study groups and other goals the two towns may have.

In the meantime, Rumford plans to continue on with its town manager hiring process. The deadline for accepting applications is March 2. If all goes as most hope, Rumford officials could call a halt to the hiring process at the March 5 meeting. If not, then the process would continue to hire a town manager for Rumford and Madigan would continue as full-time town manager for Mexico.

“People have asked for more regionalizing,” Rinaldo said.