GRANITE QUARRY — The town of Granite Quarry will be looking for a new town manager after the board of aldermen voted to terminate Larry Smith’s employment on Wednesday afternoon.

The board called a special meeting for Wednesday to discuss strategic planning for the future and included on the agenda was a closed session to discuss the performance of an individual public officer or employee. 

After a closed session that lasted over an hour, the board members returned to the board room and voted three to one to terminate Smith’s contract with the town. Alderman John Linker was the only one to vote no to the firing, while aldermen Rich Luhrs, Doug Shelton and Laurie Mack voted for the motion.

Linker said that he knew that his fellow aldermen had put a lot of forethought into the decision and that he voted no because he did not believe that the town needed to go in a different direction.

“They thought that they needed to go a different way, but I didn’t agree. I thought he’s done a great job as manager,” Linker said.

Other board members refused to comment on the decision.

Smith has been with the town since being named as the interim town manager in 2019 after former town manager Phil Conrad stepped down. He was named the permanent town manager in 2020 after serving as interim for a little over a year. Before that, he served as the town manager in Spencer from 2005 to 2015.

The board did not announce a decision on who will fill the town manager in an interim capacity at the meeting.