Cullinan to help Nahant until end of this year

NAHANT – He’s been there 17 years, so what’s a few more months?”It’ll be maybe a few days a week,” said Town Administrator Mark Cullinan, who was planning to retire as town administrator one week from today but agreed to stay – on a part-time basis – until the end of the year. “I’ll do things like meet with the Finance Committee, and there are still some engineering projects I want to oversee.”Cullinan announced in June that he was retiring, but the town’s not quite ready for him to go. Selectman Chair Lainey Titus reported at the board’s Thursday evening meeting that the Town Administrator Search Committee is conducting background checks on the final candidates and will present them at the board’s Nov. 9 meeting. The selectmen will interview each candidate and plans to make their selection that night, Selectman Richard Lombard said.But, since the new town administrator might not start right away, the board recommended that Cullinan stay and they would pay him at his current hourly rate – “if you’d want to do it,” Titus emphasized.Cullinan had already decided, saying he has informed a relative he would be unable to paint his house.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].