Laurinburg will continue to pay former City Manager Ed Burchins until May 2013 — as part of a severance agreement.
Burchins resigned from his post at Tuesday’s city council workshop, citing personal reasons.
The severance agreement was scheduled to be signed earlier, but was delayed until Thursday night to scheduling conflicts with the attorneys involved, according to city staff.
In the severance arrangement, Burchins has agreed to “be available to the city as a consultant” for the five months following his Dec. 11 resignation.
During that five-month period, Burchins will be paid “at his current rate of pay of $102,500.00 per year.”
The compensation includes a continued car allowance as well as $461.31 per month for health insurance. The former city manager will also be compensated for any accrued vacation time. The deal is expected to cost the city more than $45,000.
According to the agreement, Burchins “shall be available at reasonable times to consult with the city council, the mayor, employees of the city, their legal representatives and other individuals or entities designated by the city concerning the duties of the city manager and any and all city projects or other matters ongoing as of effective date of his resignation.”
The agreement goes on to state that Burchins is to be regarded as an “independent contractor only and not as an employee.”
“There are certain city projects that (Burchins) knows about that no one else will, so that was made part of the agreement,” said Mayor Tommy Parker.
Parker said that the severance agreement was negotiated in the days prior to Burchins’ official resignation.
Council voted to execute the severance agreement on Tuesday after Burchins read his resignation letter aloud.
There are also confidentiality restrictions placed on Burchins by the agreement, which restricts him from revealing certain confidential information about city projects and finances.
Burchins was hired by the city at a special council meeting on July 1, 2009.
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