The town will be getting a new Community and Economic Development Authority director hopefully within the first two weeks of April, said Selectman Steve Holmes at a March 6 Board of Selectmen meeting.

Holmes said that the town will be making an offer to the successful candidate towards the end of March, and that they hope to receive an acceptance soon thereafter.

Former CEDA director Chris Reilly resigned in August of 2010 after accepting a lateral position elsewhere. The position has been filled with part-time consultant Peter Sanborn in the interim. As of a Selectmen's meeting in early January, 2012, 28 people had applied to the position.

“I think without a doubt this is the single most important decision in this town for the next five years . . . the appointment of the CEDA director,” Selectman Steve Holmes said during the January meeting. “We really have sorely missed having a director.”

Funded by state grants, CEDA completes housing rehabilitation and community development projects.

Selectmen Steve Holmes, Ellen Begley, and Cara Winslow, along with Town Administrator Mark Andrews, were present at the March 6 Board meeting. Chair of the Board of Selectmen Walter Cruz left due to feeling sick after participating in a 6 p.m. executive session held by the Board.