WATERVILLE — Drawing an adequate number of city manager applicants has become such a challenge that the city has decided to ask voters in November if they want to change the residency requirement in the City Charter.

The city has long mandated the city manager live within city limits, which city officials say poses a problem, particularly as housing costs are high and many applicants want to stay in their homes rather than move to the city.

Waterville, where an acting city manager has been filling in since its last manager left in May, isn’t alone in having trouble attracting qualified applicants.

The Waterville City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to call a referendum election on Nov. 4 for voters to decide if the charter should be changed to say a city manager can live out of Waterville if the council approves that. The council took a first vote on the order Aug. 19 and a second vote was needed to finalize the order.

Meanwhile, state law says a town manager need not be a resident of the town or state when appointed but while in office may reside outside the town or state only with the approval of a select board.

An advertisement on the Maine Municipal Association website says Waterville is seeking a manager for a city with 151 full time employees, a $27.5 million municipal budget, a $61.7 million school department budget, and a population of 16,866.

“Residency in Waterville is mandatory per the City Charter,” the ad says.  “A Charter amendment to allow the City Manager to live outside of Waterville, with approval from the City Council, is on in the municipal ballot November 4, 2025.”

MMA does not have a comprehensive list of towns and cities that require town manager residency.

At Tuesday’s meeting, former city manager Michael Roy, who worked for Fairfield, Vassalboro and Oakland before working as city manager in Waterville for 17 years, said none of those municipalities except Waterville had a residency requirement. So coming to Waterville, his home town, was no problem. He retired at the end of 2020 but stayed on into January 2021, to help with the transition. Stephen Daly became city manager and resigned two years into a three-year contract.

Roy urged that the residency requirement be removed.

“A city manager doesn’t approve the budget, a city manager doesn’t approve any ordinances,” he said. “A city manager doesn’t do anything that governs the way the city does its business. The council does that, and the manager works for the council.”

Mayor Mike Morris said placing the item on the November ballot is a step in the right direction for the city.

“And I think you’re absolutely right,” Morris said. “It’s up to the council to manage the manager and set the agenda, so yes, I agree wholeheartedly with what you said.”

The city’s most recent city manager, Bryan Kaenrath, announced early this year that he planned to resign effective May 1 after only 18 months on the job. He became city administrator in Lewiston.

Since then, the city has undergone two rounds of searches for a city manager, but the council decided each time that none of the applicants were a right fit for the city.

Morris said in June, after the second time councilors interviewed applicants, that Don Gerrish, who led the searches, reiterated that he had received several inquiries about the residency requirement with each round of postings.

“Mr. Gerrish believes there are many qualified candidates within the state who would be interested in Waterville; however, at this stage in their careers, selling a home and relocating is not feasible for them,” Morris said in an email to the council.

Before the June candidate interviews, councilors interviewed four candidates for the position but did not come to consensus, so they decided to readvertise. The council in June considered applications from 11 candidates who live both inside and outside of Maine, Morris said at the time.