Roger Candow – the now former town councillor – resigned on Jan. 3 because he foresaw missing over half of council's meetings this year.
That would have been because of a combination of family commitments and a work commitment out of town.
"So I felt it best just to resign because I don't need the people of Hay River paying for me for not being there," he said.
Along with the personal commitments, Candow is helping a contractor friend of his from Ontario with a project in Fort Nelson, B.C.
"Basically what I'm doing is I'm down in Fort Nelson putting in a new telephone exchange," he said.
Candow is an electronics technician, who is retired from NorthwesTel after 35 years of service with that company.
In all, he spent five years and two months on town council, and he expects he will miss it.
"I'm glad to have been given the opportunity to serve the town and the people of Hay River to be truthful with you," he said. "It was an experience that I will never forget."
Candow said he originally ran for council because he thought he could help out with the town.
And now looking back over the past five years, he points to the new Rec Centre as one of the major accomplishments of council.
"And then, of course, all the water and sewer work that's gone on in the last three years," he said. "Every town has problems with water and sewer, so we've done a lot of work in that in the last three years."
As for whether he may return to municipal politics in the future, Candow did not completely rule it out.
"If something tweaks me to go back into it, maybe yes," he said. "Right now I have no plans to go back at it."
Candow, a resident of Paradise Valley, often brought issues from that area of town and the Corridor to the attention of town council, and he thinks council will still be aware of those issues in his absence.
"I'm sure that the general public will continue to talk with the councillors and raise issues from all of town," he said. "So I'm not really worried that it's going to be forgotten about because it is an integral part of Hay River."
With Candow's resignation, there are now six councillors, instead of the normal eight, along with a mayor.