Okotoks’ chief administrative officer is leaving the helm after 27 years with the municipality.
Rick Quail announced Friday he is resigning from his position effective June 30.
He said it’s a good time for new leadership in the Town as several major, long-standing issues are nearly resolved, particularly annexation, a new growth plan, and a water pipeline.
“It’s a good time, the community is in a good place, I think we’ve had some major files handled now, it’s also going to be a challenging time now with the opening of the annexation, there’s going to be all kinds of interesting pressures around growth once we solve the pipeline issue,” he said.
Quail has been responsible for a wide range of areas after first joining the Town administration in 1988 as a planning and development officer. He first rose to become planning services manager, then infrastructure services manager before becoming CAO in 2004. He also served as interim municipal manager for a couple periods before taking the job permanently.
Quail grew up in southern Ontario and graduated from the school of regional planning at the University of Waterloo in Ontario before moving to Calgary in 1980 to work for the former Calgary Regional Planning Commission.
Okotoks’ population was a little more than 5,000 people when he first joined administration.
Managing and planning for growth has been a key part of his job since then.
He said preserving the downtown area was a key priority for the community in 1988. In 1998, the Town brought in the Sustainable Okotoks Plan, and former population cap. He said it was a community-lead vision to live within the Sheep River water supply.
Things changed again when the Town council dropped the population cap in 2012 and began work on a proposal to annex land for future growth and a Calgary water pipeline.
A major milestone was reached when council voted Monday to support a memorandum of understanding with the MD of Foothills on annexation.
Quail said the memorandum will allow Okotoks and the MD of Foothills to move forward collaboratively.
“It will provide long-term stability for Okotoks, long-term certainty around growth management,” he said.
Quail said it’s a good time to step back and transition to a new municipal manager and the town is in a good position for whoever succeeds him.
As for himself, he said he doesn’t have any specific plans for what he will do next. He and his wife Terry will continue to live in Okotoks.
“I’ve basically said I’m moving on,” he said. “I’m going to take a little pause, I’m going to have a little family time, do a little travelling, but I’m fairly young and healthy and looking forward to new opportunities.”
Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson said Quail leaves a lasting legacy in Okotoks, as a planner and as CAO.
“It’s very significant and you have to think that over the past 12 years the Town has more than doubles in size,” he said. “The Town as it is presently has a huge mark from Rick Quail, through all aspects.”
Robertson said Quail has been a strident defender of Okotoks through all his years with the Town.
“He’s had the best interests of the community first and foremost,” he said.
Robertson said Okotoks has become recognized as a leader in many areas under Quail’s tenure and credited him for the many awards and distinctions the Town has received during Quail’s tenure.
Town council will begin looking for a new CAO. He said it could take between three to five months for Town council to have a new CAO in place and final candidates for the job will be interviewed by town council as a whole.
An interim CAO will be appointed if the position is not permanently filled when Quail leaves after June 30.
In the mean time, he said the regular operations at the Town won’t be affected.
“It’s business as usual at the Town,” he said.
