Robbins has its new town manager.

Less than a week after accepting the job offer, George Hayfield walked into his corner office at Town Hall Monday morning to meet his employees and settle into a position he hopes he will hold for a long time.

The northern Moore County town changed its charter less than two years ago from mayor/council to manager/council and hired its first manager, Brant Sikes. He led Robbins through a transition from a town where the mayor and commissioners made all decisions to a municipality with a manager doing all hiring and firing, with the commissioners setting policy, passing ordinances, and keeping hands off the day-to-day.

Sikes resigned in January to take a county job. The Town Board hired Tommy Combs as interim manager even as Robbins entered negotiations on countywide water/sewer needs and continued to struggle with a sluggish economy.

The town received a number of applications, and the the board held many interviews and late-night called board meeting behind closed doors to fill this crucial post.

Once Hayfield submitted his application June 15, it took the commissioners less than a month to make the deal.

For more on the story, see Wednesday's print edition of The Pilot.