Casco finally has a new town manager. The Board of Selectmen announced late last month that it has hired Sabattus Town Manager Anthony Ward with a three-year contract with a starting salary of $100,000. He starts on June 14.

Ward will take over from interim Town Manager Don Gerrish, who has served in that role for about eight months, since former Town Manager Courtney O’Donnell left after a year on the job. The select board announced in February that it would hire former New Gloucester Town Manager Brenda Fox-Howard for a starting salary of $97,000, but that three-year contract was terminated when Fox-Howard backed out.

Ward, a resident of Gray, has been the Sabattus manager since October of 2015 and was the police chief there for four years prior. He served 26 years as a lieutenant with the Portland Police Department before coming to Sabattus in 2011. He holds master’s degrees in public policy and management and policy and financial management and a bachelor’s degree in applied technical leadership, both from the University of Southern Maine.

The select board hired Gerrish, a municipal consultant with Augusta consulting firm Eaton Peabody, to assist in the search and to serve as interim town manager. The town paid a one-time consulting fee of $6,000 and has been paying Gerrish $600 a day to come in three days a week since September.

According to the town’s calendar, Gerrish has served as interim manager for a total of 90 days since September, for a total cost of $54,000. If he continues to come in three days a week until June 14, it will cost the town an additional $5,400.

The position was advertised at least three times for a fee of $450 each time. By Ward’s first day, the search and interim manager fees will have cost the town at least $61,350.