HAMPDEN, Maine — Town councilors unanimously agreed to hire a Concord, Massachusetts, consultant to serve as Hampden’s next town manager.
Angus G. Jennings will succeed the current town manager, Susan Lessard, who announced in March her plan earlier to leave the post she has held for 14 years.
Jennings and Mayor David Ryder signed a three-year employment contract during an informal meeting Monday evening in a conference room outside the council chambers.
Jennings is owner of A.G. Jennings Consulting Firm, a planning, zoning and real estate consulting firm based in Concord, Massachusetts. He is the former director of land use planning for Westford, Massachusetts, and town planner for Marshfield, Massachusetts.
In the weeks ahead, Jennings will be moving his wife and 2½-month-old daughter to the community, he said Monday.
The manager search began after Lessard announced her plan to leave the town’s employ in March, citing a family health issue and a desire to simplify her life.
She initially planned to step down when her contract expired at the end of June but has agreed to stay on part time on an hourly basis through the transition.
According to the contract, Jennings officially will assume his new position on Aug. 24, though he did say Monday that he might be in the office before that. Jenning’s salary will begin at $92,500 per year plus health insurance, retirement and other typical benefits.
Jennings was one of two finalists for the Hampden manager position.
The other was Ryan D. Pelletier of Fort Kent, director of economic and workforce development for the Northern Maine Development Commission and executive director of Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development Inc. He also is the former town manager of St. Agatha.