FREEPORT – The Freeport Town Council has reached a decision on a new town manager, but won’t release the name until contract negotiations are complete.

On Friday, Town Council Chairman Jim Cassida said the council, which met on July 19 to discuss the finalists, had agreed on a candidate to replace retiring Town Manager Dale Olmstead Jr. He said that until the selected candidate has agreed to and signed a contract, the name of the new town manager couldn’t be made public. It will be one of two candidates: Peter Joseph, the town manager of Lincoln, N.H., and James Doar, the town manager in Bethel, both of whom met the public at separate receptions earlier this month.

Cassida said he expects to have the negotiations complete by the middle of this week (after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline), and will make an announcement at that time.

The hiring will not become final until the council ratifies the contract at its next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 6:30 p.m., in the council chambers.

Olmstead will stay on until mid-October to help with the transition.

Doar, 34, has been the town manager in Bethel since 2009. Before that, he was the town manager in Rumford.

Joseph, 30, has been the town manager in Lincoln, N.H., since 2008, and prior to that, he was the assistant to the town administrator in Peterborough, N.H.

At the reception, Joseph said sought the Freeport position because of the town’s reputation.

“The way that the town is managed, it’s got a very good reputation among municipal managers,” he said. “It’s a wonderful town.”

Doar said when he first came to town, he was surprised at how much was going on outside of L.L. Bean and the other shops and outlets on Main Street, which, he said, was the first impression of Freeport for many outsiders.

“The first impression everyone has of Freeport is the shops and the outlets, but when you get to the outlying areas, I didn’t know there was as much going on as there was,” he said, citing the town’s working waterfront as an example. “It just blew me away.”

The salary for the new town manager, which will be based on experience, has not yet been determined.

James DoarPeter Joseph, who has been the town manager in Lincoln, N.H., since 2008, was named the new Freeport Town Manager this week. (Staff photo by Mike Higgins)
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