DIXFIELD — Selectmen continued their search for the next town manager Tuesday night as the deadline for potential candidates to submit resume approaches.

The board met with David Barrett, director of personnel services and labor relations with the Maine Municipal Association, to go over the process of how the town manager search will play out over the coming months.

Barrett said as of Tuesday night, 17 resumes have been submitted since the job was advertised in several newspapers and websites.

The position became available after Eugene Skibitsky resigned in September. While the resignation is effective Jan. 3, Skibitsky told the board he would be taking vacation time up to that date.

The deadline for candidates to submit their resumes to the board is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16.

Selectman Hart Daley suggested that the candidate “have an educational background in financial management.” He later said the background check should note if the candidate is someone “who has been jumping from town to town.”

Selectman Norine Clarke added that any candidate who applies for the job “should have good people skills as well as financial experience.”

“We’re a town that doesn’t have a whole lot to play with,” Clarke said. “We need someone that has experience with small towns.”

Barrett said that after the deadline, he’ll organize the resumes into groups of “those who are the strongest and those who are less so.” On the following Tuesday, he’ll distribute them to selectmen, where they’ll be able to choose the candidates they find best for the position.

The selectmen and Barrett have scheduled Dec. 3 for the board to discuss the resumes and figure out who they want to call for an interview.

In other business, selectmen discussed the next steps in the RSU 10 withdrawal. Residents approved beginning the process by a vote of 695-543 last week. They also approved taking $50,000 from surplus to pay for consultants.

Chairman Mac Gill said the state Department of Education has required the town to set up a committee to oversee the steps for withdrawal.

He said the committee requires one member from the Board of Selectmen, one from the general public, one from the group that filed the petition and one appointed by the RSU 10 board.

The board approved Selectman Robert Withrow for the committee and appointed Jon Holmes from the group filing the petition. Holmes is responsible for spearheading the petition process.

Police Chief Richard Pickett announced to the board that thefts have increased recently. He pointed out that daytime burglaries have begun to come back, and that “it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.”

“If anybody during the day spots someone sitting outside of a house for too much time, let us know,” Pickett said. “We’ll check it out and make sure they have a legal reason to be there.”

Selectmen also unanimously voted to allow Dixfield to join Maine Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network. According to the group’s website, it allows towns to “help each other prepare and respond to natural and man-made interruptions in service.”

Jim White, head of the Water Department, suggested to selectmen that the town join MEWARN since it would include mutual aid, allowing the town to borrow generators and other materials from towns that are also a part of MEWARN, if necessary.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com