Flowery Branch City Manager Bill Andrew plans to resign from his job effective Thursday.

The City Council will "consider a separation agreement Thursday evening and I'll sign it Friday morning," Andrew said Tuesday. "... I really don't have anything else to say."

A 3-2 vote was shaping up in a move to fire Andrew at Thursday's regularly scheduled meeting. Two of the members, Tara Richards and Joe Anglin, said Tuesday they didn't support such an action.

"When I was approached about it, I pretty much said, ‘Hey, this is something I should vote ‘no' on,' " said Anglin, the council's newest member, starting his term Nov. 7.

"I've had so little interaction with Bill," he added. "And ... being the fact that he's been there for five years, I think I at least owed him the opportunity to work through a budget with him and go through an entire budget cycle with him."

Richards, starting the second year of her first four-year term, said she is "saddened, embarrassed and strongly against the (other council members') decision to terminate Bill, as he is an excellent city manager and genuinely cares about the city and seeing it prosper."

Councilmen Chris Fetterman and Kris Yardley couldn't be reached for comment. Councilwoman Amanda Swafford declined comment.

Richards couldn't put a finger on the troubles between Andrew and the council members seeking his ouster.

"What bothers me the most is that it's so senseless and they won't give me a valid reason," she said.

Mayor Mike Miller, who can only vote to break a tie, said Tuesday night that he supports Andrew.

"Bill has done a great job for the city. His list of accomplishments is too long to mention," he said. "There are no negatives on his record for the city."

Miller added that he is "concerned and saddened that the council took this step to work out a resignation agreement, when no one can give me a clear answer as to the grounds of the termination."

Andrew has served as city manager since March 30, 2006, having worked previously as the Hall County grants manager.

He began his tenure with a $72,000 annual salary, plus an additional $500 per month auto allowance, a three-month severance package of salary plus benefits, three weeks' vacation and retirement benefits.

According to the city's 2010-2011 budget, which took effect July 1, Andrew has a $91,784 salary. His total package, which includes a $6,000 car allowance, comes to $129,984.

Miller said the city will have to pay Andrew $50,000 in severance upfront and then $11,000 over the next six months to cover retirement and insurance benefits.

Richards said the city is losing a lot.

"The costs of losing continuity of knowledge, employee morale, productivity, relationships, and expertise are no less important or real than the tangible costs associated with paying the severance," she said.

The severance amount "doesn't even factor in the costs of recruitment, selection, training (and so forth)," Richards said. "Unfortunately, we will be paying for this decision for years to come."

Flowery Branch has been through plenty of past turmoil and turnover in past years. City leaders have come and gone and infighting and factions have often been the norm among council members.

"Bill has been instrumental in turning the city around over the last five years," Richards said. "I think the loss and long-term costs of this decision are much greater than the majority recognizes."

Oakwood City Manager Stan Brown, who has been at his post for seven years, said he and Andrew had a close working relationship.

"He's a good man and he's done a great job for Flowery Branch," he said. "... I'm just hopeful that something good will become of this and that Bill will end up in a better place."

Also, at Thursday's meeting, the council will vote on whether to reappoint Carothers & Mitchell of Buford as the city's law firm.

The city clerk also is reappointed, but the person who held that job since 2006 - Melissa McCain - started a new job Monday as Doraville city clerk.