ESCANABA — Former Delta County Treasurer Tom Sabor will serve as the county’s part-time interim administrator. The Delta County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Sabor to the position during a special meeting Thursday afternoon.

On Monday, exiting Delta County Administrator Philip Strom announced he had accepted a new position as deputy city attorney for the city of Grand Rapids. He served as the county’s prosecuting attorney before being hired to fill the county administrator position when former county administrator Ryan Bergman left last year.

Strom and his family will transition this month before he officially starts in his new position on Sept. 3. At Thursday’s meeting, he recommended the board appoint an interim county administrator to bridge the gap between the end of his time in the position and the hiring of a new permanent administrator.

“In my opinion, the one person that knows this county best recently retired, and his name is Tom Sabor,” Strom said.

In late August and early September, Strom said he will work with Sabor to allow for a smooth transition.

Sabor will be paid $40 per hour in the interim county administrator role. His hours are not to exceed 25 hours per week.

Near the end of Thursday’s meeting, board members thanked Sabor for coming out of retirement to fill this position.

“The county’s (done) a lot for me, and this is a small way of repaying it back,” Sabor said in response.

In other business, the board:

– accepted the hiring committee’s recommendation to hire Paul Geyer as the county’s emergency management coordinator. Robert Berbohm, who currently holds this position, is leaving in the near future.

Geyer has a bachelor degree in criminal justice/law enforcement from Lake Superior State University and over 20 years of experience with law enforcement, fire and other emergency response teams. He began working as a public safety officer for the city of Gladstone in 1993, was promoted to sergeant in 2000 and served as the city’s director of public safety from 2006 to 2017, when he retired.

“We were very lucky that Paul replied — I think he’s going to do a great job,” Board Chair Patrick Johnson said.

– officially accepted Strom’s letter of resignation.

– approved a job description for the county administrator position. The description was left unchanged from the last time it was updated in March 2018.

The board also agreed to post the job description for 30 days. The description will be posted in many different places, including — but not limited to — the Daily Press, Michigan Works!, the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Municipal League.

– okayed a temporary weekly stipend of $300 for Administrative Assistant Tracy Lantagne as compensation for additional responsibilities and duties she will take on during the county’s search for a new administrator.

“Her and Tom are going to basically share this interim position, to a certain extent,” Strom said.

– reviewed a transition plan prepared by Strom. The plan calls for interviews for the county administrator position to be conducted in September, for a new administrator to potentially be identified in early October and for the new administrator to ideally start by the end of November; however, Strom noted this can be adjusted.

– tabled a decision on the formation of a hiring committee for the county administrator position.