DIXFIELD — After a six-month search, the Board of Selectmen announced Wednesday that it has signed a contract with Baileyville Town Manager Linda Pagels-Wentworth to become the new town manager.

Pagels-Wentworth will replace interim Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky, who resigned from his position in September 2012, but agreed to stay with the town in the interim after selectmen were unsuccessful in their first search for a manager.

“I’m used to working in smaller towns and rural areas,” Pagels-Wentworth said Wednesday afternoon, shortly after selectmen agreed to hire her. “This town fits right into that.”

According to a news release by the board, Pagels-Wentworth has “30 years of experience working with municipalities in Maine” and will bring “excellent communication skills, as well as experience with water and sewer operations, budgeting and finances.”

Prior to her being town manager of Baileyville in Washington County, Pagels-Wentworth served as Washington County’s first county manager for three years, where she was responsible for the operation of administrative functions, the preparation of two annual budgets that resulted in a decrease in the municipal tax levy and the negotiation of two union contracts.

Before that, she served as manager for several Eastern Maine towns and cities, including Calais, Gouldsboro and Milbridge.

“Everything that I’ve done before has prepared me for this position,” Pagels-Wentworth said.

Chairman Mac Gill said Pagels-Wentworth will officially begin work at the May 13 selectmen’s meeting. Skibitsky will remain as a consultant with the town until after the annual town meeting, he said.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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