Lyme — After 27 years with the town, First Selectman Steven Mattson announced his intent to retire, effective July 5.

At the June 21 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Mattson, 67, thanked the town for giving him the opportunity to serve as first selectman and announced that he will be retiring at the board’s July 5 meeting at Town Hall at 3:30 p.m.

After Mattson's official resignation, Second Selectman John Kiker and Third Selectman David Lahm will nominate and vote to appoint a replacement for the remainder of Mattson's two-year term, according to the state's prescribed process for filling a vacancy on the board.

The appointee could be any town resident. If Kiker or Lahm become first selectman, one of their seats will become vacant, and the two will appoint someone to fill that position until elections in November 2023.

In June 2017, the board appointed Mattson, then serving as a selectman, to his current role upon the retirement of previous First Selectman Ralph F. Eno Jr. Mattson was elected to the position in November 2017, then reelected in 2019 and 2021.

Contacted by phone Monday, Mattson said, “I’ve been doing this for a long time. This is my 27th year working for the town, 17 on the Board of Selectmen and five (years) as first selectman, and I’ve gotten to the age where I’d like to be doing something else, and it is just time with the end of the fiscal year. I think we’re leaving the town in very good shape, and it’s time for someone else to have a turn.”

“The town is a great town,” he said, adding, “we’re very small. We have very limited staff here, but we work great as a team, and things move along, and we take care of our residents as much as possible.”

When asked what he is most proud of during his tenure as first selectman, he said, “we have gotten a lot of things done, and we have not had to take a tax increase in any of those years to accomplish the things we’ve accomplished.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time on fiscal controls, which is my background, and the town has, I think, done very well under that,” he said. “I’m leaving the town in very good financial shape — debt free and having met all our goals for reaching our reserve fund targets, without tax increases — and I think that’s more than enough right there.”

Kiker and Lahm did not respond to a request for comment.