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Bill Kohbarger was officially selected as the new town manager at Tuesday's Pahrump Town Board meeting.

The panel unanimously approved an employment agreement with Kohbarger that includes an annual salary of $105,000 a year, with other details to be negotiated in the future.

Kohbarger, who will be moving his family to Pahrump from Carlin, is already making plans on how to hit the ground running when he starts June 30.

"I'm excited," Kohbarger said in a post-meeting interview. "I'm pumped about the potential of Pahrump. I know I sound like a broken record, but you guys have a lot of potential."

Kohbarger, who attended the board meeting at which the Pahrump Valley Airport Master Plan was also approved, said he's looking forward to working on that project as well as several others on which the town is working.

First on his "to do" list, however, is getting to know the town and giving residents a chance to get to know him as well.

Kohbarger said he had already started working with town staff to set up several open-invitation lunches at restaurants around town, giving residents the opportunity to spend his lunch hour with him and chat.

Residents will be respectfully asked to pay for their own lunch, however. Kohbarger wants to get to know as many Pahrumpians as possible but jokingly admitted, "I'm not a rich man, so if 40 people show up, I'm not sure I could handle that."

In addition, he has also made plans to ride around with Pahrump Valley Fire Rescue Chief Scott Lewis to get familiar with the town's layout.

At the meeting, Kohbarger was given a warm welcome by those residents in attendance.

"Welcome aboard, sir, I look forward to seeing you because I'll be down in the town office bugging somebody," Bob Irving, chairman of the Fall Festival Committee told Kohbarger.

"Since everybody's being friendly tonight, I just wanted to warn you, we're not always friendly," Vicky Parker, town board candidate, joked. "But I'm glad you're here."

"He'll find out," Art Jones, long-time resident, added from the audience.

Before welcoming the new town manager, resident Dave Stevens said, "I think we should thank Mr. Sullivan for doing an outstanding job here," referring to Interim Town Manager and Town Finance Director Michael Sullivan.

Sullivan has been the interim town manager since former Town Manager Dave Richards left in February to go to Alaska.