Wauconda names Doug Maxeiner as new village administrator

Wauconda trustees on Tuesday agreed to hire Doug Maxeiner as the town's newest village administrator.

Maxeiner, who's served as Hampshire's top administrator since 2011, will switch villages Nov. 11.

The Wauconda village board approved Maxeiner's two-year contract without objection. He'll be paid $120,000 annually, Mayor Frank Bart said.

Before he started working in Hampshire, Maxeiner held administrative posts dating back to the 1990s in McHenry, Marengo and Rockford.

“He has the experience that we need,” Bart said.

Bart introduced Maxeiner to the audience and the board following the vote. Maxeiner thanked the trustees for the opportunity and received a round of applause from the crowd.

Wauconda Public Works Director Brad Fink has been serving double duty as interim administrator since early August.

Fink's predecessor, Zaida Torres, left village hall July 30 a few hours after a meeting with Mayor Frank Bart and never returned.

Torres now works as the finance director for the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, a group that provides Lake Michigan drinking water to a dozen communities.

Wauconda had sought to join the agency but the agency broke off talks a few weeks ago, citing mistrust and other concerns.

One of the new administrator's top tasks will be resuscitating the village's plans to connect to a Lake Michigan water supply.

Maxeiner will be assigned to lead the village committee that's overseen the $50 million water project, which was approved by voters in 2012. Bart had been the point man on the effort, but that changed after the CLCJAWA board shocked officials and residents by turning its back on Wauconda.