AMHERST – Up to five finalists for the Amherst town manager position are expected to be announced at the Select Board meeting Monday.
Peter Hechenbleikner, the town’s interim town manager since Feb. 1, said this week that the names of the candidates, who will be interviewed later in April, will be announced during the public portion of the meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Room at Town Hall.
Hechenbleikner, who does not want to be considered for the permanent post, said the number of finalists will not be revealed until Monday.
Bernard Lynch, a Plymouth-based consultant who runs Community Paradigm Associates LLC, will meet with the Select Board during an executive session portion of the meeting, beginning at 5 p.m. During this time board members will discuss strategy for negotiating the new town manager’s contract, including guidelines for a salary and benefits package.
Select Board Chairwoman Alisa Brewer said references and criminal background checks are being done by Lynch before the public announcement.
After the names are released, the board will discuss the questions to be asked during the two-hour interviews.
“We will talk about the town manager search in open session right after public comment,” Brewer said.
The board has set aside five days for finalists to visit Amherst, with each day ending with a public interview at 6 p.m.
These would be held April 21, 25, 26, 27 and 29, but the first and last dates will only be used if there are four and five candidates, respectively.
May 5 is the anticipated day on which the board will announce which finalist it will hire.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
