Administrator Mike Eden made the announcement of the contract extension for Mr Gillard at the final meeting of the year for the merged council at Urana on Tuesday.

The contract is back-dated to May 12 when Federation Council replaced the former Corowa and Urana shires.

Mr Eden defended the decision to re-appoint Mr Gillard before the councillors return in September next year.

“At the moment with the number of vacancies for good general managers around the place I thought in the interests of the community it was important Mr Gillard stayed here for the duration,” he said.

“To put at risk him being poached by somebody else was not something I was prepared to do.”

Mr Eden acknowledged some members of the Federation Council advisory committee, which is made up of former Corowa and Urana councillors, would disagree with his call to re-appoint the general manager.

Many former councillors from the two shires are likely to stand for election in September and were present at Urana for the announcement.

Former councillor Francesco Bruinsma recently resigned his position on the advisory committee.

Mr Gillard has been appointed on a remuneration package of $270,000.

Mr Eden said his salary was comparable to other councils of similar size.

Mr Gillard joined Corowa Council in 2013 when he replaced long-serving general manager Bruce Corcoran, who served in the role for 21 years after previously working at Urana Shire.

He previously worked as chief executive at  Moorabool and Loddon shires and senior management positions at Mitchell, Wyndham and Mildura councils.

Mr Gillard was announced as interim general manager at the time of the merger.

The former Urana Shire general manager Adrian Butler occupies one of the director positions at Federation Council.

One of Mr Gillard's first moves at Corowa was gaining community support for a special rate variation.

He also played an active role in ensuring the Corowa-Urana merger went ahead, but is dealing with two contentious items – a compost facility at Howlong and new swimming pool at Corowa.