WINDSOR – After more than six years of overseeing the daily operations of county government, Bertie County Manager Scott Sauer announced his retirement Monday evening at the August meeting of the Bertie County Commissioners.

Sauer came to Bertie in 2013 after having served for the past four years as Harnett County Manager from February of 2009 through December 2013.

He had also previously served in the same capacity in three other North Carolina counties: Sampson County, Scotland County and Caswell County.

Sauer said he is making the move due to family concerns. His wife, a medical technician, has accepted a position in New Hanover County. He also cited other family members that have recently re-located back to the Tarheel state.

“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Bertie County,” Sauer said later in the week.

“As I told (the Commissioners), I will never have a better day in my career than June 29 at the opening of the Tall Glass of Water (Bertie Beach on the Chowan River near Merry Hill). That was the most positive outcome I had ever seen of a project the Commissioners had worked on for many years, planning it, and despite resistance and negative comments; but there was nothing that day but positives, smiles and a lot of happy children that day,” Sauer recounted.

Sauer has also helped shepherd the county through two major weather events in Hurricane Matthew and Tropical Storm Julia and the aftermath that left destruction across the county.

“I’m really pleased to have been a part of a lot of progress here, and I’m grateful that the Commissioners have allowed me to do the things we have done,” he surmised. “We’ve had a good team here, and there’s better things to come for the county; especially regarding recreation and tourism.”

Commissioners’ chairman John Trent, speaking for his fellow Commissioners, said that while Sauer’s announcement caught him and his fellow Board members off guard, he had nothing but effusive praise to say for the County Manager’s time in office.

“It was something he decided it was time to do,” Trent explained. “He said he wanted to finish his tenure.”

Trent was part of the team of Commissioners who originally hired Sauer back in 2013.

“He’s been able to take creative ideas and assist us in getting grants and other funding,” Trent elaborated. “He’s been able to move this county forward aggressively, and with the Commissioners, to do it economically. He helped move us, government-wise, in positive directions.”

A native of Mt. Healthy, Ohio, Sauer will leave his post on November 1.