Whatever happens with efforts in the Alleghany Highlands to turn around the region's struggling economy, Claire Collins will not take a part in that process as Covington's city manager.

Collins said Wednesday that she has submitted her resignation, effective at the end of the month, and the city council has accepted it.

Asked if it was her decision to quit the job that she has held for a little more than two years, Collins said: "I voluntarily resigned."

She would not say if she is leaving at the request of the council.

"I'm not at liberty to comment on the discussions that are related to personnel," she said.

Covington Mayor Harrison Scott also would not say whether Collins was asked to resign or be terminated by the council.

"I can't comment on anything other than the fact that she submitted her resignation and city council accepted," he said.

Collins' departure comes two weeks after a new study paid for by the nonprofit Alleghany Foundation indicated the region could save more than $7 million annually if Alleghany County, its two towns, Clifton Forge and Iron Gate, and the independent city of Covington consolidated into one government.

Reducing the government expenditures would save about $2.4 million, and another $4.1 million could be saved by combining the school systems, according to the report prepared by the consulting agency K.W. Poore & Associates. The ensuing larger school district would then be able to reap an extra $600,000 annually in state school funding for the next 15 years.

The first phase of the report, released in April, described the area's declining economy as over-reliant on the MeadWestvaco paper mill, which is responsible for two-thirds of all manufacturing jobs in Alleghany County.

The report also urged business and political leaders to act soon to turn around the area's struggling economy before it's too late. It stated that the region suffers from a declining work force and a growing elderly and low-income population that could make it harder for the region to pay for its basic needs, most notably schools.

While government leaders have made little progress in working together in recent years, a growing number of residents appear to be massing to push consolidation as a voter referendum.

Collins and members of Covington's city council have been skeptical that consolidation would save the big dollars indicated by the various reports over the years.

"There's a lot of truth in the study but there's a lot of untruths in the study," Scott said Wednesday of the latest report.

Scott said he is against consolidation and that the report "doesn't change my opinion on whether we should consolidate or not."

Collins, who was hired in 2006 at a salary of $92,000 per year, said she will be paid a $15,000 lump sum in severance pay and looks forward to finding a new job opportunity. Before coming to Covington, she had served 14 years as Bath County's administrator.

"At this point in my professional career I'm going to explore all types of opportunities and see where it leads me," said Collins, 53.

Scott said the council will likely appoint an interim city manager before embarking on a search for a replacement.

"We're going to try to contact some local people to see if they're interested," he said.