Following the death of Councilor Wayne Newbegin last month, the Standish Town Council voted Tuesday to appoint Steven Nesbitt to Newbegin’s seat.

Nesbitt, 47, is a resident of Prouty Drive and manager of manufacturing operations at the Scarborough biotechnology firm, Maine Molecular Quality Controls. A former Standish Planning Board chairman, Nesbitt was appointed to the council last year for a one-year term. On June 9, Nesbitt lost to Isabel Higgins, 476 to 432, in the race to replace Phil Pomerleau in the three-year Area 1 council seat. He will serve as an at-large councilor until the 2016 municipal election.

The council voted 5-1 to appoint Nesbitt to the council, and Cynthia Beckwith to a one-year seat on the Planning Board representing Area 3, with Higgins opposed. Since 2010, Nesbitt has served on the beach committee that is organizing the effort to convert a section of the Cargill lot on Sebago Lake’s western shore into a public beach, and several councilors emphasized the need to maintain Nesbitt as a councilor for his expertise on that issue. Newbegin has served as the other council liaison to the beach committee.

“We have a lot to deal with, one of which is the next item of business after this meeting, which is the beach,” said Councilor John Sargent. “We need all hands on board to move this forward and I have served on the council when we haven’t had an odd number – we’ve had an even number. If we end up with a tie we start all over again. Right now we have six councilors.”

Lynn Olson, the new council chairwoman, applauded Nesbitt’s attention to detail.

“Steve is an extremely detailed individual and his knowledge of also the Planning Board and all the ordinances, the guy has a mind like a steel trap,” she said. “He can focus, he brings things forward, he just has added such incredible value that among all of the very good individuals that applied, he stood out for those purposes. We very much hope that the other candidates certainly look to other committees that they can join.”

Nesbitt said he was excited to continue his service on the council.

“I’m very pleased,” he said. “I’m glad to have the confidence of my fellow councilors and I look forward to serve Standish, to keep it moving forward.”

According to town officials, Nesbitt was one of four candidates to apply for the position. Town Manager Gordon Billington declined to release the names of the other three candidates, citing long-standing town precedent of keeping appointments applications confidential. Nearly five years ago, Billington said, an individual threatened town officials after trying to gain access to an appointments committee meeting.

“At the time he frightened the council members by commenting that he had a concealed weapon permit,” Billington said. “It was very unsettling for the council at the time.”

The town has rejected a Freedom of Access Act request submitted by Dan Kasprzyk, a leader of the Standish Watchdog Group, to publicize the names of the applicants. Town attorney Ken Cole has advised the town that the applications are not public documents.

At the council meeting Tuesday night, Kasprzyk called for a special election among the four applicants.

“I would implore that the Town Council seriously consider not doing an appointment today,” Kasprzyk said.

In response, Olson said holding a special election would be a resource-intensive endeavor.

“It is very expensive to run an election,” she said.

Kasprzyk said that Newbegin’s wife, Linda, and Bill Orr, who lost to Kimberly Pomerleau by 15 votes in the race for an at-large council seat on June 9, had applied for the position.

In an interview, Linda Newbegin, who attended the meeting, said she had applied to replace her husband.

“It was something my husband and I had discussed before his passing and I told him I would think about it,” she said. “I had received several calls and emails from people asking if I would consider it.”

Newbegin said she did not expect the council to appoint her.

“I understand that they want people who have been on the board before, have experience,” she said. “That was not a surprise.”

In an interview, Orr confirmed he had applied for the position, as well.

Standish Town Manager Gordon Billington, right, swears in Steven Nesbitt to the Town Council and Ellen Kasprzyk to the Budget Committee during Tuesday night’s council meeting. Staff photo by Ezra Silk