Wiscasset might take on an interim town manager while it looks for Laurie Smith's successor, Selectmen's Chairman Ed Polewarczyk and Vice Chairman Judy Colby said.

That would help as work gets under way for next year's budget, they said.

The two expect the board to start talking on December 17 about its first steps following Smith's decision to resign and become Kennebunkport's town manager.

Her last day working for Wiscasset is February 7, 2014. In an interview December 11, Smith called the Kennebunkport position a great professional opportunity. But she said she will miss the job she's held since July 2010.

“It's like leaving something you love, for something you know you're going to love,” Smith said.

Smith, 49, said she will probably need to move closer to Kennebunkport from Auburn, where she now lives. She was an assistant city manager in Auburn before taking the Wiscasset job.

Wiscasset selectmen and others interviewed December 11 and 12 said they were saddened, even devastated, to be losing Smith; and a Kennebunkport selectman said he and the rest of that town's board are excited to be getting her.

“We're very fortunate to have her as our new town manager,” Kennebunkport Selectmen's Vice Chairman Allen Daggett said December 11.

More than 50 people applied for the job, including other well-qualified ones, Daggett said. “But she just stood out.”

Smith's departure is a great loss for Wiscasset, said Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman David Stapp.

“She's a very talented and capable lady,” Stapp said. “I don't know that there are feet that can fill those shoes, but I hope so, for the sake of the town.”

Smith has been very supportive of the chamber's efforts, Stapp said.

Smith has been a regular at the chamber's “Business After Hours” events, as well as concerts sponsored by local businesses. She's also been helping selectmen and wound care product-maker Molnlycke on a possible tax-incentive deal that would allow the company to expand its Rynel plant on Twin Rivers Drive.

In addition to her efforts with businesses, Smith was heavily involved in this year's inaugural “Wings Over Wiscasset” event at the town-owned airport. And as recently as December 7, she was down at the waterfront, spending her Saturday afternoon standing in the wind and cheering along with Wiscasset residents as Santa Claus arrived on a lobster boat.

Polewarczyk said his emotions are mixed about Smith's decision to move on to the Kennebunkport job. He's happy for her, but the board is losing a good adviser and the town is losing an asset, he said.

“There are a few times in your life when you get to work with someone very special, and to work with Laurie has been one of those times,” Polewarczyk said.

“She's been an awesome boss,” Town Clerk Christine Wolfe said. “We are very, very saddened ... that she's leaving.”

Colby said she's devastated; she classifies Smith as a friend, she said.

She and others said Smith's work on town projects and policies has done a great deal to move Wiscasset forward.

“She has taken this town so far, it's amazing,” chamber board member Sherri Dunbar said.

Smith's job switch will give her a bump up in pay, from her current $87,500 a year in Wiscasset. Her first year's pay will be $96,000 in Kennebunkport, said that town's interim town manager, John Fraser, on December 12.

Wiscasset now has two key jobs to fill: town manager, and a superintendent for the town's new school department following voters' November decision to leave Regional School Unit 12.

“I think it's overwhelming at this point because so much is happening all at once,” Colby said.

However, she said the overlap in openings puts no added pressure on those involved in the searches. The processes are separate: The new school committee that voters elect January 7 will look for the superintendent; the selectmen will look for the town manager.

“They'll be doing their thing and we'll be doing our thing,” Colby said.

As for finding the next town manager, Colby agreed with others interviewed that it will be a challenge to find someone who will work as hard and as well as Smith has.

“As much as I hate to see her leave, I do realize people have to move on, and that this is something she wants.

“I wish her well.”

Related: Wiscasset town manager resigns, takes Kennebunkport position