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<p>Tanis Manseau, one of Luzerne County government&#8217;s eight top division heads, has abruptly left employment.</p><p>County Manager Robert Lawton sent an email to council Friday morning saying he has accepted Manseau&#8217;s resignation as operational services division head, which took effect Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;I hope you will join me in gratitude for Mr. Manseau&#8217;s service to the county and in best wishes for all of his future endeavors,&#8221; Lawton wrote.</p><p>Lawton told council he will soon begin the process to identify a successor. County council must vote to confirm division head nominees under the county&#8217;s home rule government.</p><p>Reached at home, Manseau declined to discuss the specifics of the resignation, including speculation by at least one elected official that he was forced out.</p><p>Manseau does not have another job lined up. He had relocated to the area from Charleston, South Carolina, when he was hired for the $85,000 division head position in May 2014.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve enjoyed being in Northeastern Pennsylvania. At least for the time being, I will be staying here seeking employment elsewhere, whether it be here or in another area of the country,&#8221; Manseau said.</p><p>The operational division head oversees engineering, roads and bridges, recreation, planning/zoning, emergency management, security and buildings and grounds.</p><p>&#8220;I greatly appreciated the opportunity to serve the people of Luzerne County. I hope I&#8217;ve made a difference,&#8221; Manseau said.</p><p>Manseau has a bachelor&#8217;s degree in civil engineering and has more than 35 years of public and private sector experience in construction, project and facilities management and energy engineering. His prior employment included work as energy manager for the Charleston Naval Weapons Station, facilities operations director at the Medical University of South Carolina, facilities management director at the Trident Technical College and chief project/facilities engineer at the College of Charleston.</p><p>Manseau is the second person to fill the operational services division head position since home rule was implemented in January 2012. Chris Belleman left the position in September 2013 to become county Flood Protection Authority executive director.</p><p>A recent issue with the approval of an updated hazard mitigation plan may have contributed to the sudden departure.</p><p>County Council members were displeased to learn last month that the administration had failed to seek their approval of the plan by the Jan. 1 deadline. The plan update was completed last fall.</p><p>Counties must adopt these updates under federal law to be eligible for state and federal disaster assistance, which means the county and its municipalities could have lost out on funds if a flood or other disaster had occurred.</p><p>County interim planning/zoning director Nancy Snee told council she had tried to get the plan on council&#8217;s agenda since last December. Manseau told council the plan approval was &#8220;lost in the shuffle.&#8221;</p><p>Lawton&#8217;s critics maintain he was ultimately responsible and dropped the ball, but others say Manseau should have been more proactive about getting the approval on the agenda.</p><p>The day after the meeting, Snee sent council members a copy of emails she sent to Manseau requesting adoption of the hazard plan on Nov. 18, March 16, March 30, April 15 and June 25 and July 16. The most recent email highlighted the potential loss of federal funds if a flood occurs.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Manseau </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_manseau1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Manseau </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

High-ranking Luzerne County manager abruptly resigns