The Town of Belgrade soon will be seeking some new candidates for town manager, town treasurer and the Board of Selectpersons.
Town Manager Gregory Gill, 66, will be retiring at the end of March after 27 years of work in municipal government, the last five in Belgrade.
Town Treasurer Barbara Geaghan has notified officials of her departure, which will be Feb. 5, according to Gill. She has been the treasurer for about four years.
Bruce Plourd, just completing the first year of his third three-year term as a member of the Board of Selectpersons, has announced he will be leaving that post because he is moving to neighboring Sidney.
Plourd, 48, won re-election to his third term on the board last March in a three-way contest that also put Gary Mahler on the board.
“We really hate to see Bruce go,” Selectboard Chairman Ernest Rice said on Monday. “He has been a very valuable asset to the selectboard with his expertise with a lot of departments we have do deal with.”
Gill, of Mount Vernon, said he intended to turn in his official letter of resignation to the selectboard Monday night. His yearly contract runs out at the Town Meeting in March, and he said he requested a two-week contract extension until the end of that month.
Rice said that will be considered by the board.
“We definitely will miss the town manager,” Rice said. “He’s been a good town manager.”
Gill has already bought a retirement home in Deering, New Hampshire, near his son Aaron, who is chairman of the Town of Deering’s Board of Selectmen. Another son, Ryan, lives in Seattle, Washington.
Gill, who was born in Farmington and graduated from Jay High School, started in municipal government in 1989 as code enforcement officer and community development director in Livermore Falls. He was town manager in Readfield for 10 1/2 years, and then in Minot and Sabattus.
Gill is retiring just as the town is finishing construction of a new Town Office, which is expected to be near completion in about six weeks.
“The new town manager’s going to have a nice office,” Gill said Monday.
In the meantime, nominating petitions are available from the town office for a two-year term on the selectboard to complete Plourd’s term, as well as two three-year posts on the board.
Rice and the selectboard’s vice chairman, Rick Damren, have both taken out papers to seek re-election.
A three-year seat representing Belgrade on the Regional School Unit 18 board of directors is also up for election. The incumbent, Rebecca Seel, has taken out papers for that post.
A one-year term as road commissioner is also up for election. The incumbent, Maurice Childs, has taken out papers to run for re-election.
The petitions, each with a minimum of signatures from 25 Belgrade registered voters, must be returned to the Town Office by 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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