A first step in hiring a new city manager will be taken Tuesday when Mount Airy officials meet to discuss the 40 applicants for the position.

City Attorney Hugh Campbell, who received the applications for the job which has been vacant since early January, told the Board of Commissioners at a meeting Tuesday afternoon that the cutoff point for city manager hopefuls recently was reached.

Campbell advised that the board now should launch the process of narrowing the field to determine the most-qualified individuals for the position. “I have been getting inquiries from some of the applicants about the timetable,” he said.

On Tuesday, the board decided to recess its meeting until next Tuesday at 2 p.m., when officials will gather at the Municipal Building to begin choosing finalists. That session will not be open to the public, Campbell said Tuesday, since personnel issues will be involved and state law allows such discussions to be held in private.

A scoring sheet will be used to rank the applicants, leading to personal interviews, background checks and other procedures as the hiring process concludes.

Mount Airy has been in the hunt for a city manager since the sudden resignation of Don Brookshire on Jan. 7. It was disclosed later that month that Brookshire, then 56, would receive a severance package including six months of salary at a cost of around $45,000. Brookshire held the job for nearly nine years.

Since January, Assistant City Manager Barbara Jones has been filling the position on an interim basis.

The municipality advertised the manager vacancy in statewide and regional publications geared toward the public administration realm and drew applicants from a “widespread” area, including one from Colorado, according to Campbell. He said a good field of candidates resulted.

In February, a human resources consultant told Mount Airy officials to expect to devote about six months for the hiring process, but to use all time needed to select the best person. Short of dealing with a major calamity striking the community, the consultant said the manager appointment will be the most important action the board takes — since that individual will be the “ambassador to the citizens.”

City officials further were advised to have a professional firm conduct background investigations on finalists.

Fire Chief Opening

The application deadline also has passed for another key vacancy in city government, that of fire chief.

About 18 to 20 people are seeking that post, according to Jones, the interim city manager, who said the cutoff point for applications was last Friday.

Unlike the city manager situation, the fire chief position has been vacant less than a month, since Chip Osborne submitted his resignation on April 13 after meeting with Jones. She has declined to comment on the exact circumstances behind Osborne leaving.

Jones has said that the fire chief vacancy would be advertised both within and outside the Mount Airy Fire Department.

Osborne had held the position less than five months, after replacing Benny Brannock, who served as fire chief for seven years and was a fourth-generation member of the department.

No announcement has been made concerning when city officials hope to have a new chief on board.