JEREMY DUDA - Daily Herald | Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:00 pm
After 11 years in Payson, city manager Andy Hall is moving on.
Hall's last day on the job is Thursday, after which he will move to Henderson, Nev., where he will be that city's planning manager. As planning manager he will deal primarily with land-use issues, which Hall said he prefers to management.
"That's probably my first love and I think I enjoy that more than the management side of things, so I'm looking forward to getting back into the land-use side of things," he said. "It was a real good opportunity for me to kind of go back and do what I really like to do."
Hall went to work for Payson city in 1996, spending his first two years as community development director before becoming city manager. Before he came to Payson, Hall worked for the Mountainland Association of Governments and Summit County.
During his tenure as city manager, Hall saw Payson experience tremendous growth, with the population increasing by thousands. In that time, Payson has added a number of new businesses and infrastructure, including ball parks, a movie theater and a Wal-Mart.
"It's been fun to see some of those things happen and be part of them," he said.
Mayor Burtis Bills praised the job Hall has done for Payson.
"He's done an excellent job. We've been very, very fortunate to have Andy for as long as we have," Bills said. "Right now is an important time in the history of Payson. We're experiencing a lot of growth and with that growth we want to have good, quality growth and good, quality development. And with his expertise it helped us attain those goals."
The city has placed job ads in newspapers and an industry magazine, and is looking for candidates who, like Hall, have experience in city planning. Hall had a master's degree in city planning when he began working for the city and later went back to school for a master's in city management.
Bills doesn't expect the position to be filled in less than two or three months. Depending on how long it takes, he said the city could opt to hire a headhunting service to search for qualified candidates, but declined to spend money on such a service for the time being.
"We don't want to rush into it. We want to make sure we get a city manager that will fit Payson's needs," Bills said.
Hall's last day with the city will be Thursday, and on Monday he will begin his new job in Henderson. He accepted the job in June and put in his 30-day notice, as is required by his contract.
Hall said he will miss living in Payson and plans to make frequent trips back.
"We'll be back often. I consider some of the people in Payson beyond friends. They're family, and we'll be here often," he said.
Bills said was sad to see Hall leave, though he is happy for him.
"It's bittersweet losing him," he said.
Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.