Wilton Town Manager Rhonda Irish has announced she will be retiring after 13 years in the position. She is planning her last day for Aug. 10 following the annual Wilton Blueberry Festival. Pictured, Vice President Terri Winslow, at left, thanks Irish for her presentation at Farmington Rotary. Franklin Journal file photo

WILTON — Wilton Town Manager Rhonda Irish has announced she will be retiring after 13 years in the position.

Her last day will be August 10, a few days after the 2022 Wilton Blueberry Festival.

Irish made the announcement at the Select Board’s Tuesday, April 19, meeting, where she handed in a letter of resignation.

In a phone interview, Irish sang her praises for the town employees, Selectpersons and people of Wilton.

“I have really, truly enjoyed being the manager in the town of Wilton and meeting so many of the residents through the years,” Irish said. “[I’m going to miss] hearing their concerns, doing what we can to help with any of their concerns and seeing some of the transformations in the town.”

Irish believes the Wilton Town Office is a special place because of “the employees [who] are very dedicated.”

“[The town employees] get along really well with each other,” she said. “It’s just a great group of people.”

She noted some of her favorite moments, initiatives as Town Manager have been “the downtown revitalization project,” the Wilton Tannery redevelopment and the Brownfield Project for the Forster Mill – which “did a lot of the outside environmental cleanup.”

Irish said the process for hiring a new town manager will begin in the coming weeks. Irish estimates the Select Board will start reviewing applications and candidates in a month and begin the interview process in June.

She anticipates by the beginning of July the Wilton Select Board will have made a selection for the new town manager.

Irish said she hopes the new town manager is someone who “really cares a lot about Wilton and its residents and employees.”

“Wilton is a great town, both from the standpoint of the residents, and they have awesome employees,” she said. “So I’m really hoping to see somebody that can come in and fit into the mix of the people that are there … have the vision to see some of that great opportunity through [in Wilton].”

The Select Board offered Irish congratulations when she handed in the letter of resignation.

“It has been a pleasure working with you,” Select Board Chair David Leavitt said.

“It’s bittersweet. We’ll miss you a lot,” Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri told Irish. “But I think it’s great that you’re able to retire.”

Ultimately, Irish “feels it’s time to move on and start the next chapter of my life.” Her husband retired in late 2021.

Nevertheless, she said she’ll keep an eye on the town, lend a helping hand if it’s ever asked of her.

“I’m really hoping to continue from the outside watching a continued transformation of the town – new businesses and having [Wilton] continue to be a family-friendly community,” she said. “The town is ready, I think, for a new manager to come in and set up the town.”