A round of applause at the end of Hinesville City Council’s lengthy meeting Thursday brought a tear to a former all-conference linebacker’s eyes.

Kenny Howard announced his impending retirement Thursday evening, drawing a standing ovation from city council members and city staff in attendance, bringing a close to his 33 years of service to the city.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to retire,” Howard said, addressing the council after an executive session where he told them of his plans to retire. “It has been a difficult decision for me. But at this point in time in my career, I have realized that this is never going to get any easier.”

Howard was assistant city manager from 19952017, and was promoted to city manager in January 2017. He also spent 25 years as director of the city’s community development department.

Howard earned a bachelors in business administration from Fort Valley State University, where he was an all Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference linebacker on the football team, in 1986. He also spent five years as an assessor with the Liberty County Board of Assessors.

Mayor Karl Riles praised Howard for his service to the city.

“On behalf of the Mayor and Council, we are grateful for his extraordinary contributions and wish him nothing but joy and fulfillment in his well-earned retirement,” Riles said. “While we will miss his daily presence at City Hall, the positive impact of his work will continue to benefit our community for years to come.

“On behalf of the city, simply ‘thank you.’” Howard has set a tentative retirement date of September 1.

“I’m still going to be here for a little while,” he said. “We still have some work to do.”

Howard said he believes this is “the right moment to close this chapter and begin a new one with my family and loved ones. The time has come for me to say I am going on vacation and it is going to be a lifelong vacation.”

Howard added he would do what needed to be done to make the transition to the next city manager smooth. He also thanked the department heads and the city staff he supervised.

“It has been a pleasure and a delight to work with such a professional staff,” he said.

Howard also thanked the city council for giving him the room to conduct his job.

“They allowed me the autonomy to do a lot of things,” he said. “And it goes back 33 years and that is a tremendous amount of trust you have put in one person.”

City council members likely will conduct a search for a permanent replacement for Howard, possibly using a search firm.

“I will do what I need to do to make sure this transition is smooth,” Howard said.