BOWDOINHAM — After serving as Bowdoinham’s interim town manager for the last seven months, Nicole Briand has been selected as its next town manager.
Briand, the town’s director of planning and development, took over managing the town when former Town Manager Thomas Woodin resigned in August 2020. Woodin was hired in August 2019 to replace William Post, who left after eight years with Bowdoinham to take the town manager position in Rockport.
Woodin’s resignation letter did not include a reason for his departure. Selectmen conducted their own search for a town manager leading to hiring Woodin. They were scheduled to conduct Woodin’s annual performance review the day he resigned.
This time around, selectmen enlisted David Barrett of the Maine Municipal Association to facilitate the town manager search process, which included multiple rounds of interviews with selectmen, both remote and in-person. Briand was selected from a pool of 48 candidates, according to a statement from the town.
Three finalists were also interviewed by a panel of five Bowdoinham residents.
Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to hire Briand.
“Nicole has done an incredible job for Bowdoinham over the years, and she has demonstrated deep competency and dedication to our Town, our employees, and our residents,” Selectman Chairperson David Engler said. “All of us on the board have great confidence in Nicole’s ability to step into this important role at this critical moment. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Nicole to make Bowdoinham an even greater place to live and work.”
Briand, who lives in Richmond, said she also looks forward to serving as town manager.
“I am excited for this next chapter in my career with the town of Bowdoinham,” Briand was quoted in the town’s statement. “This is a wonderful, engaged community, with a talented staff and active volunteers. Together I know we will do great things on behalf of the town, and I am looking forward to getting to work.”
Briand said Wednesday that she plans to hold workshops with the board of selectmen to discuss setting goals and what selectmen want to accomplish over the next couple of years. Those will take place in April or May after the town finishes the budget process. There will also be a workshop in March to look at the town’s capital projects plan.
“My goal for at least the first six months is just to kind of set the stage for where we are and where we want to go so we have some clear direction in how we want to move forward,” Briand said.
Briand said she plans to advertise for a new director of planning and development by next week. It’s a position she has enjoyed for the last 10 years but Briand said she needs to bring in someone new so she can focus on the town manager job.
Briand said former town manager William Post encouraged her to consider transitioning into town management.
“It’s been something that I’ve looked at,” Briand said. ” I wasn’t expecting it to be something that would present itself so soon but the opportunity was there and I thought it was time to give it a try.”
According to Selectman Vice-Chairperson Jeremy Cluchey, Briand was previously making $61,700 in her planning director role. When she became interim town manager, she received an additional $300 per week. Her starting salary as town manager is $82,000.
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