Newberry City Council voted Wednesday to not renew the contract of City Manager, Matt DeWitt. Motion was made by Councilperson Lemont Glasgow and seconded by Councilperson David DuBose.

DeWitt’s contract is set to expire on June 30, 2023.

Mayor Foster Senn said the city was looking at going in a different direction.

“Matt has done much good work in Newberry and has had many accomplishments. Newberry City Council is appreciative,” Senn said.

DeWitt said serving the city and its citizens has been an honor of a lifetime.

Throughout his career with the City of Newberry, DeWitt said he felt he had made many positive contributions including the buildout of the city’s fiber network, which was the first municipal system in South Carolina and the replacement of most of the water and sewer infrastructure in the city’s mill villages through CDBG grant funding he had obtained.

During DeWitt’s tenure, most of the city’s parks and athletic facilities saw upgrades, including the buildout of the multimillion-dollar Newberry Recreation Complex.

DeWitt said he had initiated many projects that would continue to positively benefit the city into the future, including the sale of land surrounding the Newberry Recreation site that will bring much needed housing to the city.

The sale of this land, he said will help to fund the renovations of downtown’s Newberry Art Center (in the former Newberry Observer building) to which DeWitt said he hoped it helped to inspire creativity in the hearts of the community.

“I will continue to be here through my contract, working on behalf of Newberry citizens, to ensure that the city remains focused on delivering the best services possible to our community,” he said.

Newberry City Council’s next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21 at Newberry College’s Center for Teacher Education at 7 p.m.