Five people have applied to fill the shoes of Drew Sachs, Brewer’s former economic development director who recently decided to return to doing disaster relief full time. The deadline to apply for the vacant post expired Friday, City Manager Steve Bost said. The five applicants have a broad array of experience, he said Friday. “Some are from outside of the area, but all from inside the state,” Bost said, giving no other details about the applicants. The applicants will be reviewed, and interviews with the potential employees will be set up in the near future. “I’d like to have somebody on board by the end of January,” Bost said. “That’s my hope.” It’s expected that the applicant will be presented at the Feb. 14 City Council meeting for final approval. The new economic development director’s salary will be based on experience. Sachs, who left for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in September to help with the recovery effort, accepted a partnership in early December with James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis and emergency management consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Sachs, who worked with Witt while he was director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, left FEMA 6 1/2 years ago and moved to Maine for the Brewer post.