PITTSFIELD — Jacob R. Gran, Pittsfield town manager since last September, is resigning from his position to take an assistant town manager role in Bucksport, where he previously worked as a clerk.

Gran is just over a year into his three-year contract. He said that his last day working for Pittsfield will be Dec. 31.

Jacob R. Gran Photo courtesy of Jacob R. Gran

Jason Hall, mayor of Pittsfield, said that Gran put in his 60-day notice three weeks ago, and the Town Council was notified of his resignation at an executive session Oct. 29. Hall said that town officials were disappointed to discover that he was leaving the position.

“Everybody was disappointed because he’s done a fantastic job in the short time he’s been here, we had a lot of positive energy, the morale of all the employees and the council was fantastic,” Hall said. “Really just kind of disappointed that he’s leaving, because we had such positive momentum and really enjoyed everything he brought to the table.”

Before Gran came to Pittsfield, he worked as the town clerk and registrar of voters in Bucksport. Hall said that Gran’s return has to do with his proximity to the town, familiarity with personnel and a large increase in pay and benefits, especially family and medical.

Hall said that the town of Pittsfield might have tried to match or exceed those benefits if there was a chance of keeping Gran on board, but that wasn’t the case. The town put a search committee together and is looking for candidates to present to councilors, ideally ones with a municipal background.

“I’m optimistic that we can find somebody, but if we can’t, we’re working on a contingency plan with an interim town manager, if need be,” Hall said.

The search committee is looking for candidates that have leadership skills, team-building abilities and financial knowledge, Hall said.

In the final year of a townwide property revaluation, Hall said that he wants to find someone who can lead the town in solving challenges like raising employee pay and benefits to industry standard and updating infrastructure such as roads, sewer and water while being fiscally responsible.

Hall said he has been happy with the hard work he has seen from the council and volunteers to get Pittsfield back to where the town wants it to be.

“We’re certainly in a much better position than we were 15 months ago when Jacob came on board,” Hall said. “I feel much more comfortable handing this position off to someone else now. He certainly had an uphill battle, but he did an amazing job.”