LINCOLN, Maine — Lubec Town Administrator John Sutherland is in line to become Lincoln’s new town manager, officials said Monday.
Sutherland has accepted Lincoln’s offer of a three-year contract with a starting salary of $60,000, but the Town Council must still approve his hiring at its next meeting on Dec. 12, Lincoln Town Council Chairman George Edwards said. The post also would be conditional on Sutherland’s passing a six-month council review.
“One of the things that stood out to me is that he has been with Lubec for six years. We are looking for a long-term town manager, and he has a lot of the qualifications we are looking for,” said Edwards, who expects the council will hire Sutherland.
Sutherland being a certified Community Development Block grant administrator and experienced multi-industry economic developer made him attractive to Edwards, Edwards said. Sutherland aided many small Lubec businesses, including helping to establish Lubec Brewing Co., and he helped redevelop a section of the coastal town’s shoreline, according to Sutherland’s resume.
The 50-year-old Sutherland, who has been Lubec’s administrator since 2010, estimated that he has written grants that resulted in about $2 million in aid to his community. The administrator also said he has been working to redevelop the brownfield site at the former Columbian Factory fish processing facility.
This, Edwards said, makes Sutherland a good fit for Lincoln. Besides wanting to redevelop the former Lincoln Paper & Tissue LLC site in 2017, Lincoln has economic development efforts for its Lincoln Regional Airport and adjoining land, downtown and West Broadway.
If hired under the contract, Sutherland would receive a $2,500 raise if he passes the six-month review, and after that he would get a 1-3 percent raise in annual reviews depending upon his performance and the “local economic status,” according to paperwork provided by interim Town Manager Peggy Daigle.