By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — There is still time for applicants to step forward.

The deadline was extended for candidates to apply for the vacant town manager position in the Town of Naples.

According to Chairman Jim Grattelo, another two weeks was added to the application deadline.

The Naples Board of Selectmen met on Friday and voted to extend the deadline in the hopes of receiving more resume packages from potential candidates.

“The purpose for the extension is the timing of the posting. Because it is the end of the summer, some people are on vacation,” Grattelo said.

When the board met, Labor Day weekend was approaching and that time period meant many professionals might be taking off for the four-day weekend.

“The second reason is we received two applications after the deadline; and in order to accept those, we had to extend the deadline,” Grattelo said.

Now, qualified professionals have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, to submit their resumes, he said.

Previously, the deadline had been Friday, Aug. 28. The end result was a total of 19 applications, Grattelo said.

“We were hoping to get a bigger pool of candidates,” he said.

Around the state of Maine, there have been several town manager positions vacated. Some of those have been filled, which could mean candidates that weren’t chosen might be interested in the Naples position.

“Some of those town manager jobs were filled,” Grattelo said.

“One of the applicants was on vacation when the job was posted and found out about it after the deadline,” he said.

“It’s the time of year. The worst time of the year is the end of August” because so many people are on vacation.

For the time being, Town Clerk Judy Whynot is acting town manager.