SOUTH HADLEY – After years of service to the town of South Hadley, Town Administrator and former Mayor of Holyoke Mike Sullivan will start a new adventure in a new state.

Sullivan said he’s “thoroughly enjoyed” his time working for the town of South Hadley. “It’s been a great experience for me. The people here are really passionate about their community, they really care. Those are the foundations for a successful community when citizens are engaged,” he said.

He said transitioning from mayor to town administrator was an adjustment, and he served as the Town Administrator of Maynard from 2010 to 2013. “I found it very different, you go from being the decision maker to being a component, part of the decision making,” he said. Sullivan said he felt his beliefs and “way of doing things isn’t necessarily the end-all and be all” and he’d enjoyed working with the Selectboard.

“I enjoyed it, I had great support in Maynard, and more stable increased support in South Hadley for my ideas and approaches,” he said.

He said he was proud of the work he’d helped to do in town throughout his tenure as town administrator. Some of those accomplishments, he said included forming the Bike-Walk Committee and the Commission on Disabilities which Sullivan said hadn’t existed before. “The Redevelopment Authority is coming into its own now. I was here for end of the construction of the new library and was involved in the building of the Plains School, and more so the building of the Senior Center and even more so than that, the building of the dog park,” he said.

Sullivan went on to say that “with the support and guidance of the Selectboard,” they’d put the Ledges Golf Course “on a much more financial path” and brought new businesses to town. He said that he, along with the Selectboard, worked to establish and build relationships during his tenure as well.

“We forged new relationships between the Gaylord Library Trustees and the public library. Those are some major obstacles for South Hadley historically,” he said.

Sullivan said in addition to assisting with several municipal projects, he, along with others in town, had “assembled a really strong municipal team.” Such members of that team include a new police chief, a new superintendent, a new director of Department of Public Works operations, a new planning director, a new treasurer/collector, a new building commissioner, a new Council on Aging director and a library director he described as “second to none.”

“It’s really a real strong team that new town administrator Lisa Wong will add to that strength. Her experiences and her education will really benefit South Hadley,” he said.

Some of his most memorable experiences, he said, were working to construct the Senior Center and the South Hadley Dog Park. “Obviously the Senior Center is a huge project, and developing a financing mechanism that didn’t impact directly the taxpayers was something that was really different and exciting for South Hadley,” he said.

The development of the dog park, Sullivan said, was different than any other project he’d ever worked on. “I’ve had experience building a new high school, a new fire station, a new library, new senior centers, [but] nothing was more complicated than the dog park,” he said.

“The dog park was an incredible challenge. We ran into soil substance and ledge and erosion that wasn’t appropriate for a dog park,” Sullivan stated. “We had a tight budget and had to make design changes. We got through it, it’s open and it’s a really nice recreational amenity for the town of South Hadley.”

Following his work in South Hadley, Sullivan said he would continue his work as a town administrator in the town of Eliot, ME. The town boasts a population of nearly 7,000 people compared to South Hadley’s more than 17,000 residents. However, Sullivan said, “Smaller isn’t always easier,” and that small towns oftentimes have fewer resources. Another challenge he anticipates is learning how municipal governments in Maine work.

“It’ll also be a challenge learning the nuances of Maine rather than Massachusetts. I’m familiar with the models and different clerks that the Massachusetts municipal government has,” he said. “Maine, I’m finding is very different as well, so I’m looking forward to starting that new experience.”

Sullivan said despite having a home in Maine and working in Eliot, he would still be keeping his Western Massachusetts roots and continue living in Holyoke.

“I will miss the community, [and] I’m hopeful that I find the same level of passion in Eliot that I’ve seen in South Hadley,” he said.