BETHEL — Town Manager Jim Doar is going west.

He has tentatively been offered a job as county administrator for Gallatin County, Montana, beginning July 1. He plans to depart for Montana in mid-June, he said Tuesday.

Doar said he expects to wrap up the warrant for the June 11 annual town meeting the first week of June, but may not be here for the meeting.

The county seat for Gallatin is Bozeman, a city about the size of Auburn, Maine.

“It’s like a bigger Bethel,” Doar said, noting the many outdoor recreation resources in the area.

Bozeman is about 45 minutes from Big Sky Resort, a ski area that is part of the Boyne family of resorts. Sunday River Resort in Newry is a Boyne resort.

Doar said his wife’s family lives in Wyoming, and they have planned for a time to move west if the right job came along.

He has agreed to a three-year contract with a starting salary of $99,500, he said, in a position that carries significantly more responsibility. He will succeed Earl Mathers, who worked as administrator there for seven years before taking a similar job in the East, according to Doar.

A Maine native, Doar has served as town manager in Bethel since June 2009.


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