City Council unanimously approved the hiring of Lolli during its Tuesday night meeting. After the votes, the five council members and those sitting in Council Chambers applauded Lolli.
Lolli, 60, served with the Middletown Division of Fire for 33 years, the last seven as chief. He was scheduled to retire as fire chief no later than Feb. 28, 2024.
He later announced he was appointing Assistant Fire Chief Tom Snively as the acting fire chief for the Middletown Division of Fire, saying, “We appreciate AFC Snively’s experience, knowledge, and leadership as the city now begins the process of choosing a new fire chief.”
Lolli’s base salary, effected Wednesday, will be $158,000 — or $42,000 more than he earned as fire chief. In his new role, the city will pay him $5,681 in each of the first two months of this agreement as one-time payments, according to city documents.
Since he was named acting city manager, he earned an additional $1,293.75 every two weeks, according to his contract.
As city manager, Lolli will lead the city’s 375 employees, 11 departments, and manage the $125 million budget.
He was named acting city manager after the city and then City Manager Jim Palenick signed a separation agreement in March after less than two years. Palenick replaced Doug Adkins, who was terminated by City Council in December 2019.
Lolli is Middletown’s third city manager in three years.
Mayor Nicole Condrey, who frequently disagreed with Palenick during City Council meetings, said she was thankful Lolli accepted the new role.
“We deserve a true leader,” she said during the meeting.
She said Lolli “walked into the fire in a totally different role.”
Council member Tal Moon told Lolli he’s confident in his leadership ability because “Middletown is in your heart.”
Vice Mayor Monica Nenni said retaining talent is one of the city’s priorities and hiring Lolli was “a great example of that.”
Council member Rodney Muterspaw, a former Middletown police chief who worked closely with Lolli, called him “simply the right selection at the right time. His ability to work with other communities as well as increase morale in our city building is invaluable at this time.”
After all the accolades, Lolli said it was time to get to work because the “honeymoon is over.”
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