Erik Stender was appointed as Saranac Lake’s new village manager in April 2022. This week, he announced he will resign on July 26. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Village Manager Erik Stender is resigning from his position in two weeks after a year in the role, following an argument with Mayor Jimmy Williams in the village offices on Tuesday.

This argument, what Williams classifies as a “personal interaction,” was reported to police who investigated and found that there were no allegations of violations of the law. ItZ is now an “internal administrative matter,” according to Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte.

Stender did not comment on this incident.

According to the resignation letter Stender sent to the board by email at 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday, obtained by the Enterprise, his last day on the job is July 26.

“I want to thank you all for this opportunity to serve my community in this capacity,” Stender wrote. “Throughout my time in this seat, I not only grew my professional career, but also as a person.”

Stender told the Enterprise he wasn’t sure what he could comment on right now. He declined to even state a reason for his resignation in an interview.

“It was a pretty quick decision,” he said.

And it was a hard one to make.

“I really enjoy my job,” he said. “I enjoy the people I work with.”

Being the person overseeing the day-to-day operations of the village for the past year took a lot of work and a lot of learning, and Stender likes to think he made a difference as he was learning.

“I don’t even know after a year that you can say that I had it under control. I’m still learning. Probably will be learning … would be learning for years to come,” Stender said. “It feels like I got cut short here.”

Perrotte said his officers learned of the incident on Tuesday after the fact from village staff members. He said there was no request for police response at the time but upon learning of the incident, he initiated an investigation and “determined that there were no allegations of violations of law.”

“The matter now remains an internal administrative matter and all appropriate procedures are being followed,” Perrotte wrote in an email to the Enterprise.

“Erik and I are fine,” Williams said. “You know, we agree on things and we disagree on things but we always work through it.”

He said it was a “stretch” to say it was anything more than that.

“I think we raised our voices for a second, but nothing serious,” Williams said.

Stender said he holds no animosity and he doesn’t want to hurt the village or its staff on his way out, so he will be doing a lot of work to set up his successor for a smooth transition and get his department heads prepared for his absence.

“I know it’s going to be a lot of extra work for them and I want to make it as easy as possible, because it has nothing to do with them,” Stender said. “I feel like I’m abandoning them, which isn’t good.”

Williams said he wishes Stender the best.

“He has stuff that is piling up and at this time he feels like he needs to step back,” Williams said. “I have a lot of respect for Erik and all his efforts and appreciate all the hard work he’s done for the village.”

The village manager has a huge workload and things are always popping up, Williams said. It can be stressful at times.

“I look forward to serving my community in the future and taking what I have learned here with me to do so,” Stender wrote in his resignation letter.

He plans to go back to work with Smith and Stender — an electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling contracting business he co-owns.

What the village has to do next is fill Stender’s position. This comes on short notice and during the summer work season, with several public Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects underway.

Williams plans to talk with Stender about the open projects soon.

If there is a gap in the position in the meantime, Williams said the village has “great” department heads.

The village board is meeting on Monday to discuss the direction of the community development director position after Jamie Konkoski announced earlier this month she will be resigning after six years on the job on July 26, the same day as Stender.

Williams said the full board will be assembled to discuss hiring a village manager then.

Whoever is the next village manager, Stender said he’ll be around here for them.

“Anything that they need, I’ll be available to them,” he said. “I’m just a phone call away.”

Stender was appointed to this position by Williams in April 2022 after Williams came into office. He replaced longtime manager John Sweeney, who after 18 years at the administrative helm, was released from his job. After a stint as an interim manager, Stender officially became the village manager in July of that year.

The village board will meet on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the village board room of the town hall to discuss the village manager and community development director positions.