Two of the three finalists for the top administrative job in Isabella County are internal candidates, it was announced Tuesday night. The county board plans to interview the three early next month.
During their 7 p.m. general meeting Tuesday night, commissioners agreed to set interviews the afternoon of Oct. 6 for Nicole Frost, the county’s deputy administrator; Tim Nieporte, the county’s director of community development; and Matthew Lane, city manager for the city of Caro.
They hope to hire a replacement for Margaret McAvoy, who is retiring at the end of 2021, shortly after the interviews, with the goal of that person spending December working with McAvoy to get a better understanding of what the job entails.
Frost has served with McAvoy for several years as her deputy. When McAvoy was off work last year due to medical leave, Frost was responsible for much of the county’s day-to-day operations. She also served as county administrator in Gratiot County from 2009-13 before leaving to take the same job in Dickinson County before returning to mid-Michigan to take her current post.
Nieporte is credited for ushering through the wind farm project in north-central Isabella County through the approval process. Property tax revenue from the project is a key part of the county’s plan to finance the construction of a new jail and sheriff’s office facility.
Lane has served Caro as its city manager since February 2020. Before that, he ran a consulting company in the Saginaw area and was village manager of St. Charles. He also worked as a budget analyst for the city of Saginaw, according to his LinkedIn profile.
McAvoy’s retirement was announced at a county commission meeting in late July. She has served as county administrator for eight years and is most closely associated with the county’s response to the massive flood of 2017.
Hers was the second retirement among major local municipal leaders announced in 2021. Nancy Ridley, city manager for Mt. Pleasant, is retiring at the end of October. The city has hired Aaron Desentz as her replacement and the two plan to work together for two weeks next month bringing him up to speed.
