Norwich — The Selectboard is set at the eleventh hour to hire a town manager to replace Neil Fulton, who retired last year.

Members emerged from a closed-door special meeting on Wednesday and voted to convey contract terms to a candidate they called only “Number 22.” This constitutes a formal offer to a finalist, they said.

Selectman Steve Flanders said afterward that the board would release its finalist’s name “when they give us permission.”

Chairwoman Linda Cook was present but did not take part in the 4-0 vote. She declined to explain her abstention.

The board then voted, 5-0, to schedule another special Selectboard meeting — at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, just before the annual Town Meeting deliberative session at 7 p.m. Board members said they hoped to make a hire then.

“It’s going to be us or the play,” Selectman Christopher Ashley said, referring to a 10-minute show written by a resident that is scheduled for the beginning of Town Meeting.

The board in past weeks met numerous times in executive session to discuss the search process, as the deadline of Town Meeting and a changing of the guard on the board neared.

Ashley and another board member, Dan Goulet, are not running for re-election. Both of their seats are contested.

Fulton was making about $100,000, not including benefits, when he suddenly resigned last February, during what would have been his fifth year in office.

During their search to replace him, board members advertised a salary range of $84,000 to $88,000.

Fulton’s employment status was the subject of controversy for months before his resignation.

In summer 2015, Cook, now the chairwoman, called for a closed-door meeting to consider disciplinary action against him, a move she has declined to explain publicly.

That winter, board members commissioned a legal opinion about what their rights would be if they wished to terminate his employment.

Fulton’s performance review went unfinished after he left because board members could not come to a consensus.

During this search process, the Selectboard adopted a new review system that allows for regular feedback and numeric ratings.

In the meantime, Dave Ormiston has filled Fulton’s role as interim manager. His contract expires this spring.

Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or at 603-727-3242.