CLAREMONT — The former owner and publisher of the Eagle Times has stepped in to run River Valley Community College while the state Community College System Board of Trustees seeks a new president.

The role of interim president at the community college is not unknown to Harvey Hill, who stepped down from the board of trustees of the Community College System of New Hampshire in June 2006 when he was asked to serve as River Valley's interim president while a search was under way for a permanent president at that time as well.

He returned to the board in 2007.

Hill took the new position June 28, following former president's Steven Budd's June 27 resignation.

“I think he's the logical choice to go back as an interim,” said Claremont Mayor James Neilsen, who added he was surprised by Budd's quick departure.

Budd said Wednesday his departure was admittedly abrupt.

“It was a mutual decision,” Budd said. “I was also involved in a job search at the time. That did not sit well. … Ultimately I decided to leave.”

He declined to say more, citing a separation agreement with the college.

Budd said he is reinvigorating his consulting business, Steven Budd Consulting in Gill, Mass.

Board Chairman Paul Holloway said the board of trustees is thankful Hill was able to return to the interim president post on such short notice.

“He did an excellent job and we feel fortunate to have him,” he said.

Hill is being paid an annual salary of $117,052, the same amount Budd was earning at the time of his departure, said Shannon Reid, Community College System of New Hampshire director of communications. Reid said Wednesday that Hill has declined to speak to the media as he is focused solely on the interests of the college.

Holloway said the board's search for a permanent president is expected to yield some results in the next few months so that Hill can step down in the near future.

“It's not weeks. It's not years. It's months,” Holloway said. “He doesn't want it on a permanent basis.”

Hill is a local businessman and the former publisher of the Eagle Publications, Inc. He has been active with numerous boards and civic organizations, including the Endowment for Health, the Sullivan County Economic Development Corporation, the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation, the Claremont Chamber of Commerce, the Upper Valley Community Foundation and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. He has served on the Claremont School Board, as a director of Leadership New Hampshire, chaired the finance committee of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and served as a director of Valley Regional Hospital.

In July 2009, Hill told Eagle Times employees he was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closing the paper.

The daily newspaper has since rebooted.

mpierce@newstote.com