FREEPORT — Dale Olmstead plans to retire in April from the town manager position he’s held for 30 years, Olmstead said today.

The Town Council discussed plans to replace Olmstead during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

The council will meet privately with executive “headhunters” later this month and map out a search process by mid-November, Olmstead said.

The search likely will include input from community members and will require the council to revise the town manager’s job description, which hasn’t changed since the town charter was updated in 1976.

“A lot has changed since then,” said Olmstead, who will turn 62 on April 26. “When I started, there wasn’t a computer in Town Hall. Now, there’s a computer on every desk.”

Councilors indicated that they would like to have Olmstead’s replacement on the job about a month before he leaves to promote a seamless transition, Olmstead said.

“Freeport is a fantastic community,” Olmstead said. “Whoever replaces me will be landing their dream job.”

After his retirement, Olmstead and his wife, Barbara, who recently retired from a longtime admnistrative position at Bowdoin College, plan to split their time between Maine and her native Texas, where she has family.


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