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The Auburn City Council voted Thursday to appoint Fire Chief Jeff Dygert to the position of interim city manager. The appointment will be effective April 15, when the job will be vacated by Selby, who will after 4.5 years.

Dygert, who has been fire chief since 2011, has more than 20 years of service with the Auburn Fire Department. In 2015, Dygert was recognized with the Career Fire Chief of the Year award by the New York Association of Fire Chiefs.

The fire chief said he was first approached by city officials for the interim position. He has worked with Selby over the last few days on related administrative tasks, such as contractual and employment matters.

The appointment calls on Dygert to serve as interim city manager until a full-time replacement is found.

Dygert said the decision was partly related to the city's developing endeavor to construct , a project that the fire chief has helped spearhead since its inception. He does not believe AFD procedures will change following his new appointment, saying he is confident that finding a full-time city manager will not be a prolonged process.

"We've got a good staff," he said. "We've got a very experienced command staff at the fire department, and I'll be spreading my time between both (positions) and spending, I suppose, quite a bit of extra time to deal with everything else."

The Auburn City Council is expected to privately conduct initial interviews with full-time city manager candidates through the month of April.ÌýÌýsubmitted applications for the position, which city officials hope to have filled by June.

After gathering in executive session Thursday, the Auburn City Council reconvened to set a special meeting for 5 p.m. on Monday, April 4. City officials said councilors will then meet exclusively behind closed doors about topics related to the city manager search.

Members of the Auburn City Council will also meet an hour earlier next Thursday, at 5 p.m., for the same purpose.

Councilors approved Dygert's appointment unanimously Thursday with a 4-0 vote, with Councilor Terry Cuddy absent. Selby had previously appointed in Jennifer Haines, director of the Department of Planning and Economic Development, to further assist in the transition.

Dygert's name was not publicized by the city prior to Thursday's vote. Rather, the nomination was made during the meeting by Councilor Debby McCormick, who was seconded by Councilor Dia Carabajal.

McCormick saidÌýcouncilors are grateful to Dygert for agreeing to take on the additional responsibilities, preventing the need to hire externally.Ìý

"I think we should acknowledge that we have great leadership in our management staff," she said, noting the appointments of Dygert and Haines. "It's just a testament to the quality of the people that are on our management team and are willing to do it."