DIDSBURY - After four years as CAO in Didsbury, Harold Northcott is leaving to accept a similar position with the County of Vermillion River. The announcement was made in a press release sent out by the town on Aug. 9.
Northcott will be stepping down officially on Sept. 2.
Mayor Rhonda Hunter, on behalf of council, thanked Northcott for his commitment to Didsbury during his time as CAO.
"We admire the work and projects that Harold has underway and has accomplished in his three-plus years with the town," said Hunter. "We thank Harold for his many contributions in making Didsbury 'The place to grow.' He has been a great support to council in moving our strategic plan and vision forward."
Hunter also praised Northcott for putting together a great leadership team, "which will certainly help with a smooth transition in the interim and when a new CAO comes aboard."
"We are excited for Harold in this career move and we wish him all the best," she said.
Hunter said council will be working quickly to find an interim solution for the organization and begin the recruitment process for the next CAO of the Town of Didsbury.
Hunter told the Gazette council was surprised at the announcement.
"Certainly Harold always indicated it was a three- to five-year career investment so he had come up to four years," she said. "We were surprised. We just got the big announcement about Buy-Low -- and Harold worked hard on that -- I think he left us in a solid position with Shantz Crossing moving forward. So that's great."
Hunter said Northcott is expected to be around on and off until Sept. 2 as he will be taking vacation.
"He'll appoint acting CAOs from within our organization during that time," she said. "Come Sept. 2 council will be talking and discussing and looking at appointing an interim CAO. The interim CAO will get us through the time until we can hire a permanent CAO. We haven't really discussed the options on how to hire a permanent CAO.
"There are options: you can hire a consultant or do it yourself. Our interim CAO might be able to help us with that."
Hunter said they hope to have that interim CAO in by the end of August to help with the transition. She expects that the hiring process for a permanent CAO would take anywhere from three to five months.
"That's the industry average," she said. "That's the norm."
In a press release, Northcott said he was proud of the accomplishments made by the town during his tenure, in particular, the construction of the new fire hall, the building of the new town office and the announcement of Buy-Low Foods at Shantz Crossing.
"This is a project that I have been working on since I came to Didsbury," said Northcott in the release about Shantz. "These types of developments take time as there are many pieces that need to come together. The result will now be a great benefit to Didsbury and area residents with construction of a new, much larger store."
Northcott also said he shares those successes with past and current town council members and speaks highly of the work of the current council.
"They have a great vision that is placing the community in a very good position," he said. "It's been an immense amount of work but work that was required. This council is definitely setting Didsbury up for success."
