OGUNQUIT — The Ogunquit Select Board is in the beginning stages of assembling a committee to search for a new town manager.

The board discussed the committee in its meeting on Tuesday now that Town Manager Tom Fortier has resigned from the position.

“We just wanted to put this out here for a couple reasons. One: promotion, promotion, promotion,” Select Board Chair Barbara Dailey said Tuesday evening. “We are in the search zone and timeline for establishing a search committee.”

The Select Board formally accepted Fortier’s resignation in a 4-0 vote on Feb. 7. Fortier was arrested in August on theft charges, beginning a months-long swirl of controversy within the town known as the “Beautiful Place by the Sea.”

Fortier was charged with unauthorized taking or transfer and official oppression — both Class E misdemeanors — for allegedly charging people to park in a lot owned by the town of Ogunquit on July 4, when parking was supposed to be free, then pocketing the money.

Fortier, 52, was hired as town manager of Ogunquit in February 2009. According to his LinkedIn profile, he served as town manager of Richmond from 2007 to 2009 and as a neighborhood administrator in Portland from 1989 to 2006.

Mark O’Brien, the town’s fire chief, has been serving as acting town manager in Fortier’s absence.

At the Feb. 7 meeting, Dailey said Fortier’s resignation will become effective as of June 30 of this year unless he is convicted of a crime prior to that date. Town residents will vote in June whether or not to extend payments to Fortier for five additional weeks, through August 4.

Per town ordinance, the Select Board has 30 days from Fortier’s resignation to establish a search committee for a new town manager.

“It is incumbent upon us to pull that together by March 7 or as close to thereof as we can,” Dailey said Tuesday.

Dailey said the search committee will be comprised of five to seven individuals appointed by the board following an application and interview process. Applications for the committee are available on the town’s website.

All of the search committee’s meetings will be held as confidential executive sessions, Dailey said. The committee will, however, report their progress to the Select Board, ultimately recommending candidates for the board to interview.

Should the board not find any of the committee’s recommended candidates sufficient to hold the town manager position, the committee will return to work.

Select Board Vice-Chair Tom Daley said he would like to see an updated town manager job description finalized prior to the board’s next meeting, in order to better advertise the position.

O’Brien said four people have so far submitted applications in hopes of serving on the committee.

Dailey encouraged people to apply for the search committee, noting that the commitment will not be a burden on their time.

“Fill out an application if you are interested,” she said. “The greater the pool we have to choose from, the better the final committee will be.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].