Thursday was officially the last day for Kevin Kress as Clearwater City Administrator.

Kress announced in October that he had accepted an offer to take the administrator position at North Oaks, a city closer to his home.

Since that time the city has advertised to fill the position. There were 10 applicants who submitted their resume.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Kress said after reviewing the qualifications of each applicant, the list has been narrowed to the three finalists who scored the highest. The names have not yet been released as public information.

The city has appointed an interview panel that will meet with the finalists in an attempt to select one candidate or more to bring before the entire council for a vote.

That panel includes Deputy Clerk Deb Petty, Public Works Supervisor John Schmidt, Fire Chief Ryan Pridgeon, Mayor Andrea Lawrence and Councilman Wayne Kruchten. Kress said Clear Lake Mayor Tim Goenner has also requested to be present at the interview session as an observer, since the new administrator could likely be the administrator of the Clearwater-Clear Lake Sewer Authority.

That interview session was set to take place Tuesday (Nov. 19).

Kress said it will be up to the panel to ask questions and decide how many candidates will go before the council for a final decision.

“We haven’t had that discussion yet. It could be two or all three. Or it could be one,” he said.

“Or it could be nobody,” said Kruchten.

Kress said in that case, it would be up to the panel to decide if they wanted to bring in other candidates from the original applicant pool of 10. If not, the city would have to start another search.

Kress said if the city decided to use a recruiter, it could cost between $15,000 and $20,000, plus a minimum of three months to for the advertising, interviewing and contract process.

“Just to keep that in mind if that does happen,” he said.

After this week, Kress will not be present to assist with the administrator search process. He said he asked Liz Lindrud to step in for the interim until the city finds a new administrator.

Lindrud was hired as the city’s financial advisor Nov. 4. She has been the city’s financial consultant for the past two years and is familiar with the city’s finances, including the budget, capital projects, audit and the enterprise funds (sewer and water.)

“I thought she was the right person,” said Kress.

Best case scenario, the council will hire an administrator in December who would begin in January.  If that happens, Lindrud would not have many things to deal with before the end of the year.