City manager says Towne Square budget, Invest Medicine Hat had nothing to do with retirement

Coun. Shila Sharps said she knew of Nicolay’s retirement plans for some time.

“It would have been really hard to walk in here without a (chief administrative officer) and an entirely new council. I think it would have been different if a majority of incumbents were in, but without, it would have been very hard on the city,” she stated.

Sharps is chair of the newly formed Council Employment Committee. She said Nicolay won’t receive any kind of financial payout or compensation.

Nicolay, will, however, use up the vacation that he is owed. Sharps said Nicolay will step down from his City Manager duties the at the end of January. That means Nicolay will no longer be around the horseshoe at city council, but he will serve in a guidance role until his last day in July.

Nicolay began his career with the City of Medicine Hat in 1981, in the Utilities and Finance Department. He worked his way through a number of roles, including Chief Administrative Officer before taking off into the private sector. He was later hired back as Chief Administrative Officer in 2018.

Reflecting back on the past three years, Nicolay said helping the city build a stronger financial position was his biggest accomplishment.

“The city was experiencing significant financial difficulties as you know, the Financially Fit undertaking wasn’t getting executed as quickly as people needed. We were seeing continuing problems in the oil and gas operations and we had a huge abandonment and reclamation liability on uneconomic wells,” Nicolay said.

“If I think about what was most meaningful for me it is the progress that we have made on all of those financial fronts,” Nicolay added.

But Nicolay’s tenure as city manager wasn’t without public scrutiny. Last summer Nicolay admitted to CHAT News that he forgot to send out public communication around the privatization plans for Invest Medicine Hat, or that current Invest employees formed a private company to bid on the 10 year contract.

“The key messages were prepared as soon as the (request for proposals) went out. They came to me and were supposed to be distributed by me on my desk and out in the community, and it was me that neglected to sign off on them,” Nicolay said back in July.

And just this week, it was revealed that the city’s Towne Square project is now forecasted to be $1.1 million over budget. Council heardthe cost overrun was in part due to Nicolay approving an extra $1 million in tax dollars to get the project to completion.

The Towne Square revelation prompted a litany of public scrutiny, including calls on social media for Nicolay to be fired.

Still, Nicolay said the two incidents had nothing to do with his decision to hang up his hat and retire.

“It really didn’t, although let me acknowledge that we do have a new city council, it does have a different persona, and a different outlook towards some of the things that were underway when they came in the October election, ” he said,

“It didn’t seem right for me to make the journey of re-calibrating to new city council, and them to me, only to see my time expire in the next year, maybe two years at most,” he added

Not an avid social media user himself, Nicolay said he has managed to shield himself from a lot of the negativity the past few months. But he did offer this message to all the haters.

“If I had an appeal to people, you have heard it before from some of the members of council it would just be to be kind. There really is no margin, there is no purpose in being cruel, and often that is what we see with people who do get carried away on social media,” he said.

Coun. Andy McGrogan defended the city manager’s performance and said that Nicolay has always been a very competent and classy leader.

“I’ve never had a negative dealing with the guy. He has been a super guy to work with and be around and I guy that I consider to be a friend” McGrogan said.

McGrogan worked with Nicolay both as a police chief and as a newly elected member of city council.

“He was always polite, always kind… We can criticize leaders and I have been there myself. It is very easy to criticize the hard work of others, and until you walk in their shoes…you know I know that he always had the best interests of the citizens of Medicine Hat,” he said.

Coun. Cassi Hider said Nicolay was instrumental in helping her transition to her new role as a city councillor.

“Bob just has so much longevity with municipal government. He was always willing to answer any questions, and meet with us one-on-one to help us through the orientation,” she said, noting that Nicolay served the community with dignity.

Nicolay’s official last day will be July 9. Once that day comes, Nicolay said he looks forward to being a typical retiree, reading books, travelling, and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He also plans to live his retirement years in Medicine Hat with his partner Sandra, noting that Medicine Hat was always a community that he felt was home.

“I’ve lived in many, many, cities, and many countries, three countries, and this is by far the best city I have ever lived in,” Nicolay said.

by Tiffany Goodwein

City manager says Towne Square budget, Invest Medicine Hat had nothing to do with retirement

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