The City of Merritt is down two managers and will be working through a staff shortage for most of the summer, Chief Administrative Officer Matt Noble said after a regular council meeting on Tuesday.

It was Financial Services Manager Pat Sibilleau’s last Merritt city council meeting before she moves to a new position in Alberta.

After two years with the City of Merritt, Sibilleau is moving on to pursue an opportunity in Wood Buffalo. There, she will be the manager of financial planning for the regional municipality, which includes Fort McMurray.

“It’s a new adventure; it’s nothing against Merritt in any way,” said Sibilleau. “I had a great run here, I think I’ve contributed to some successes of the administration and council, but an opportunity came up that I couldn’t turn down as an advancement for my career so I’m on my way north.”

She said the job there will be a busy one.

“I’ll be doing there, full-time, what I do off a corner of my desk here,” she said with a laugh.

Sibilleau said she is most proud of the good relationship she’s established with council during her time in Merritt.

“To be able to establish that kind of relationship with a council is quite rewarding,” Sibilleau said.

At the meeting, council gave her a round of applause when discussing her departure. Merritt Mayor Susan Roline thanked Sibilleau for all the hard work she has done for the city.

Noble said Sibilleau’s departure leaves a big hole to fill.

“Pat’s given us some real productivity improvements and she’s invested a lot of time here,” Noble said.

“That said, she has an opportunity that’s going to fit into her long-range plans and certainly we couldn’t compete with that, so all we can do is really support her as she’s supported us.”

Sibilleau’s departure means the city is now shorthanded by two managers, dropping from seven to five. The economic development manager position has been vacant since early May.

Noble said the City of Merritt is currently looking for someone to fill each position, and expects that to be done by late August or early September.

In the meantime, the remaining city managers will share in some of the other responsibilities, Noble said.

“The existing managers have all offered help in any way that they can to pick up some of the slack and we have a deputy manager of finance who is going to step it up a notch and fill in with the help of the other managers.”

However, deputy manager of finance Ben Currie will not be taking on the manager job any time soon, Noble said.

“We’ve had that conversation and Ben’s wise enough to know he wants to complete what he started here as deputy before he gets put into the boiling cauldron, so to speak,” Noble said.

Noble said the job will be a tough one to fill as it requires a high level of experience. The posting for the position will close in another week.

Interviews for the economic development manager job should be getting underway any day now, Noble said, adding the city has some quality candidates lined up.

As for operating short-staffed, Noble said it’s going to be tough, but is unavoidable.

“There aren’t people out there who can just step into a position like this – either of those positions – to be honest,” Noble said.

He said Sibilleau has left a plan in place to help the next financial services manager so he or she does not step into the job cold.