Former Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett will relocate his family north when he begins his new job as city manager of Presque Isle next month.

Bennett said he and the Presque Isle City Council reached an agreement Monday and announced the hiring at a specially called 4 p.m. meeting and again at the council’s 6 p.m. meeting.

Bennett officially begins working March 1. His family will follow this summer, selling their Lewiston home once the school year has ended.

“It’s an interesting community,” Bennett said of Presque Isle. “It’s the commuter center for all of Aroostook County, and any shopping or anything else needs to be done there. So, they’re very interested in economic development and returning jobs to the community — typically the things I’ve done at the last few places I’ve worked.”

Bennett will replace 17-year veteran City Manager Tom Stevens, who was let go last November.

Bennett was released from his job as Lewiston city administrator in July 2009; councilors said they wanted to seek a new direction. He had served since March 2002. Bennett’s replacement, former Bangor City Manager Ed Barrett, began his job in Lewiston last month.

“It really was a very different situation between Tom (Stevens) and the council,” Bennett said. “They had told him a year before that they were looking to change, and they gave him that time to get his affairs in order.”

Bennett had been the interim town manager of Sabattus since September. He said he was confident that town would find a replacement before he leaves.

“They’ve had a second round of interviews with candidates, so it’s up to the board now,” Bennett said. “The contract with them was set up in such a way as to allow me to look for a permanent job.”

Bennett said he was working with an executive recruiter to find a permanent job, and many of them would have taken him and his family out of state.

“It’s really nice to find this and to get to stay in Maine,” he said.

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Former Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett leaves the City Building after being fired by the city council last year.