Last modified: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 2:00 AM EDT NA eyes search help BY GLORIA LaBOUNTY / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTH ATTLEBORO -- Selectmen are moving toward hiring an outside consultant to screen candidates in their third attempt to hire a town administrator. The five board members said in a special meeting Tuesday they would consider bringing in a private firm or an organization such as the Massachusetts Municipal Association to seek and review candidates, although selectmen would still make the final decision on who would be hired. The board also said they would consider a suggestion from the municipal association to increase the salary range by up to $40,000 to attract a broader pool of candidates. They plan to continue the discussion at their regular meeting Thursday night, but indicated they may want to meet with representatives of three firms before deciding to hire one of them. The cost is expected to be about $10,000, and the board will have to find the money in its budget because the finance committee has already said it will not take any more money out of the town's reserve fund to pay for a third hiring process. Selectmen have already spent $14,000 for the first two rounds of seeking and interviewing candidates, and both times they could not get the needed four out of five votes to hire anyone. The board is split 3-2 on hiring acting Town Administrator Mark Fisher, a former selectman who left the board last year so he could apply for the job and who was one of the leading candidates. He was named to the post temporarily, but his current appointment ends May 1. So far, there is no plan to cover the administrator's duties until a new person is hired, which may not happen until late August. The town bylaws prevent the board from giving Fisher another temporary appointment. They could give him a permanent appointment for a specified period until the job is filled, but that would require four votes. Newly-elected Selectman Dale Langille made it clear Tuesday that he does not believe Fisher meets the qualifications spelled out in the town bylaw, and Selectman James Wood has always taken that stand. Wood suggested covering some of the duties temporarily with other office staff for the next four months, but Selectwoman Marjorie Kraskouskas and Selectman William Moffitt said no one has the experience that would be needed. Fisher, they said, would be the best person to stay in the job temporarily. When Langille argued that the town would not fall apart without an administrator temporarily, Moffitt said there was a reason why the town has not fallen apart so far. `` Mark Fisher has kept this town together,'' he said. The board did agree to consider increasing the salary range for the job, which is now approximately $78,000 to $98,000. Kraskouskas said the municipal association suggested a range of $98,000 to $120,000. Fisher is now paid about $82,000, so that would mean finding up to $40,000 elsewhere in the budget, on top of the $10,000 for hiring a consultant. The board rejected another suggestion by the municipal association to ease up on the residency requirement. While Wood said he would consider the idea, other selectmen said they wanted to require the town administrator to move to North Attleboro within a year.