EAST LONGMEADOW – At the July 24 East Longmeadow Town Council meeting, the Council unanimously approved a separation agreement between the town and Town Manager Denise Menard. Menard has been the town manager since 2016 when the position was created.

“I would like to say that our manager, Ms. Menard, has elected to retire and as part of her contract and in negotiations with our attorney and the Council we have mutually agreed upon a severance package and wish Denise the best of luck and good health in her retirement,” said Town Council President Kathleen Hill at the meeting.

When Reminder Publishing spoke with Hill following the July 24 meeting, she said retiring was something Menard had been thinking about for a while.

“I certainly would agree to the unseen eye it was abrupt,” Hill said of Menard’s departure. “Her contract had language that allowed her to take retirement.”

Hill stated that Menards departure had nothing to do with contract negotiations.

“We weren’t even at that stage,” Hill said. She reiterated that Menard was simply exercising a clause in her contract.

At the July 2 Council meeting, Menard said that she was looking forward to working with the two new Councilors, R. Patrick Henry, Jr. and Ralph Page.

At the same meeting, the Council went into executive session to make “preparation for a successor agreement for the Town Manager,” according to the minutes. A successor agreement is an additional contract that adds to and/or supersedes the original.

Menard’s tenure with the town has not been without controversy. As Reminder Publishing previously reported, resident Jeffrey Bosworth read a petition at a Dec. 11, 2018, Town Council meeting calling on the Council to not renew Menard’s contract and expressed doubt in her hiring practices and fiscal responsibility.

The yearly evaluation given by the Town Council members in 2018, however, reflects that the Council was generally pleased with Menard’s work.

One area of improvement most of the Councilors cited was Menard’s hiring practices, agreeing with Michael Kane that she should hire based on “qualifications and fit.” Some councilors, including Thomas O’Connor, mentioned a need for improvement with communication promptly. The evaluations can be viewed at www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/657/Town-Manager.

“We will engage the services of a professional at some point to conduct a professional search,” Hill said. Within two to three weeks she expects the council to appoint an acting town manager, she told Reminder Publishing.

“We don’t want to drag our feet by any means,” Hill said.

The language within the town charter allows for the town to search for a town manager for up to four months with one extension of an additional four months.

“To be fair, legally, Denise is still the town manager of record until Aug. 15,” Hill said. If an acting town manager is found before then, she said, the new individual would become the town manager of record.

Hill said that the duties or job description about the position would not be changing with the transition. She did say that the town charter has a provision that after three years it can be reviewed. A review committee of seven to nine people will be selected in the fall as called for in the charter, Hill said.

Hill emphasized that there would be no disruption to the day-to-day operations of the town. She said that the department heads would oversee their offices, as they always have.

Reminder Publishing reached out to Menard, however she was not available for comment.