ROCKPORT — May 24 marked the last meeting of the Rockport Select Board that would be attended by Bill Post in the the role of Town Manager; the meeting was also the last which outgoing Select Board Chair Debra Hall and Selectman Jeff Hamilton would participate in as elected officials.

After nearly two year’s working for the municipality, Post announced his resignation as Town Manager last month. Last week Hall announced that Jon Duke, one of 11 applicants for the vacancy, was selected as Rockport’s next Town Manager for a three-year term and an annual salary of approximately $102,000. 

Post’s last day as Town Manager will be May 27, and Duke begins on July 6. At the May 24 meeting, the Select Board voted unanimously to appoint Kerry Leichtman, the town’s assessor, as interim Town Manager over this period of time. Post presented a document at the meeting outlining a list of ongoing projects, listed by priority, which Leichtman would be responsible for overseeing during this transition period.

In the “Table of Transition Issues, 2021” he prepared, the items listed as highest priority by Post include committee restructuring, harbor infrastructure work and infrastructure bond. Post writes that all town committees should be reviewed to reduce their overall number and to combine or eliminate existing committees. Remaining project’s at Rockport’s Marine Park include repairing fill along the seawall next to the Harbormaster building as well as repairing and repaving the parking lot. 

Infrastructure bond items include a pier in the harbor, installing a vault fire suppression system at the Town Office and repairing the sidewalk along Main St. Other items of immediate priority are the completion of landscaping and final construction projects at the Rockport Public Library as well as installing street lighting along the Pascal Avenue/Goose River bridge. Post said MDOT would be working with the Town to place two new streetlights along the bridge, and funding would be carried forward to the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Other priorities include implementing a delinquent personal property tax collection plan and negotiating a new interlocal wastewater treatment agreement agreement with Camden at a lower rate. Immediate job openings are for a part-time public works employee and a new manager of the Rockport Opera House. Contacts for interested candidates are Mike Young and Drew Weber respectively. 

Projects listed as “ongoing” include the efforts by the RES Redevelopment Committee to develop the town-owned parcel of land at the corner of Route 90 and Route 1, preliminary design work for a rebuild of the West Rockport Fire Station continued discussion of building a “Harbor Hillside Parking Lot” of 29 paid parking spaces in downtown Rockport next to the bridge. 

At the end of the meeting, Post, Hall and Hamilton reflected on their time serving the Town of Rockport, thanked one another for their service and were thanked by remaining Select Board members Mark Kelley and Michelle Hannan.

“Debra [Hall], let me thank you for your efforts. You have been dogged in your advancement in making Rockport better,” said Kelley.

“Thank you, and thank you to Jeff [Hamilton.] My first year learning the ropes, so I appreciate your guidance and certainly all of the work. It’s definitely not an easy job, and thank you both for your time,” said Hannan.

“I want to say thank you to everyone, too for all the support...I do really appreciate it. This job is not an easy one, but it helps when you have dedicate Select Board members who really care about the town, and I know it’s a thankless job that you have and you choose to do it, which says a lot about you as people. I appreciate what you do and what you’ve done and I look forward to reading about Rockport in the newspapers,” said Post.