HALLOWELL — Phippsburg’s town administrator, Ross McLellan, was hired Tuesday as Hallowell’s next city manager.

City Council members unanimously approved a new three-year contract for McLellan during a special meeting Tuesday evening. He will assume his new position June 23 and will be paid a $115,000 salary.

McLellan lives in Portland and has served as town administrator in Phippsburg since 2021, overseeing day-to-day operations and a $3.8 million budget in the coastal town of about 2,100 people.

“I really am honored and excited to work with everyone in Hallowell,” McLellan said Wednesday. “I think it’s a tremendous city with tremendous potential, and I think it’s obvious that there’s an engaged and committed citizenry and volunteer group.”

Current City Manager Gary Lamb plans to leave his post on June 6, but will remain a Hallowell employee through the end of June to facilitate McLellan’s transition into the position.

Lamb’s final 18 months as city manager were hectic: A December 2023 flood of Kennebec River caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage downtown, and then city leadership was embroiled in a monthslong budget saga after residents petitioned the city to reduce a 20% property tax increase in August.

McLellan will inherit that budget and will oversee the final steps of the fiscal year 2026 budget, which the City Council is expected to approve in the coming months. That budget, he said, should reflect the priorities of the community and should be the result of as much resident input as possible.

“If you look at a municipality’s budget, you should be able to tell what that town or city prioritizes,” McLellan said. “The most important thing is to be able to understand what the community values and how they want those limited finances to be spent to be able to craft budgets that represent that community.”

He said he was especially drawn to Hallowell because of its similarities to Phippsburg, especially the highly engaged volunteers involved in city-adjacent boards and organizations. He said he wants to be able to soak up as much as possible from those residents during his first year on the job.

“You really have to be a sponge,” he said. “You really have to be willing to listen to as many people as possible before you start making any determinations about changes or make any recommendations for any kind of policy.”

Phippsburg Select Board Chairperson Julia House said McLellan has been a steady voice in the town office since he was hired in 2021.

“He’s very calm, relaxed,” House said. “And, you know, taxpayers aren’t always calm and relaxed, but he was very good with people.”

Tuesday’s special meeting was just a few minutes long, with only one councilor, Ward 1’s Karen Knox, making a comment on McLellan’s hiring.

Knox acknowledged the decision to hire McLellan may frustrate some residents who would’ve liked to see former councilor and city employee Maureen AuCoin chosen as the new manager. Knox, a longtime friend of AuCoin’s, said her vote to approve McLellan’s contract was “one for unity in the midst of great disappointment for some and much speculation by many.”

AuCoin, who was the city’s first female code enforcement officer and briefly served as interim city manager in 2016, was the only other finalist for the position. She left the City Council in January after eight years.

“I can say with some confidence that had Ross McLellan applied for city manager while (AuCoin) was on the council, he would have received her full and enthusiastic support,” Knox said.

AuCoin posted on Facebook last week that she had applied for the position after encouragement from fellow residents, but had been denied.

“Although the majority of City Councilors supported hiring me, the end result was something very different,” AuCoin said in the post. “After working tirelessly to make Hallowell a better community for those that live, work, and play here for the last fifteen years, I am obviously beyond disappointed.”

AuCoin, who narrowly lost the 2020 and 2023 mayoral elections to George Lapointe, was the 2024 Old Hallowell Day Citizen of the Year and was a founding member of Hallowell Pride.

Notably, AuCoin was the sole vote against the hiring of Lamb in June 2021.

Hallowell’s search for a new manager began in February, when city officials hired Eaton Peabody municipal consultant Don Gerrish to advertise for the position and screen candidates. City Council members chose to search nationwide and advertise a $95,000 to $130,000 salary.

In a March public meeting before Gerrish began his search in earnest, residents repeatedly said they wanted the new manager to find creative ways to keep property tax burden as low as possible — especially following the tax increase that dominated city politics for the better part of the past year.

The City Council held four closed-door meetings to discuss city manager candidates over the past two months. During their most recent meeting on May 15, City Council members interviewed two finalists and voted in favor of entering contract negotiations with McLellan.