Rhealt

HOUGHTON — Houghton County agreed to terms with its new administrator at a special meeting Monday morning. 

The board voted 4-0 on the contract for Chelsea Rheault, who was picked as the prospective administrator last week after candidate interviews at a special meeting. The hire will become effective Oct. 25, the final day on the job for Administrator Ben Larson, who is taking a position at Moyle in Atlantic Mine.

Rheault will initially slot in at the MP 13 second-year rate of $91,303. As agreed on last week, she will get a raise to the third-year rate of $95,914 after completing her exams to obtain a Certified Public Attorney license next spring. Larson is currently making about $93,500, Tikkanen said. 

Rheault currently makes $81,000 as the county’s finance director, she said. 

Board Chair Tom Tikkanen and Vice Chair Roy Britz, serving as the personnel committee, met with Rheault last Friday to discuss the offer.

“We had a great conversation with her,” Britz said. “I’m very impressed with her, talking with her and where she sees the county going under her interest.”

Rheault said she was “very excited and glad” to step into the new job. 

Rheault started with the county as an intern, eventually becoming the county’s finance director. 

Being administrator has always been a goal of hers, having worked under Larson and former Administrator Elizabeth Bjorn, she said. Through them, she’s been able to learn about managing people and departments, which she hadn’t experienced before. 

“I’ve seen a fair share of the administrator’s work, and it’s always been a goal,” she said. “I recently completed my master’s degree in business administration and then I decided that I would like to step into more of an administrative role instead of finances, but I do want to keep my hands on the finances as well.”

Her first priorities will be gathering information about the administrator role and looking for a human resources specialist to fill her previous position.