MARION — Discussion of the pending town administrator hire was several places down on the agenda at the April 16 Selectmen’s meeting. But attendees could tell the outcome when they walked in to find two men sitting at the town administrator’s desk.  

Selectmen offered the position to Jay McGrail on April 8, and had contract negotiations with McGrail on April 11. He accepted, and was at the Tuesday meeting to shadow current Town Administrator, Paul Dawson.

Dawson will be retiring, and had a little fun with the formal contract approval, introducing the third contract approval (after contracts for the Recreation Department and Department of Public Works) as “my personal favorite,”  contract. The selectmen formally approved McGrail’s contract on April 16. 

McGrail was the director of operations for South Shore Country Club in Hingham, and is currently serving as the director of facilities for Sandwich, where he lives.

The new Town Administrator is set to start on May 13, the day of Marion Town Meeting. He has already volunteered to start with some of his job’s responsibilities to ease the transition.