Urbandale City Manager Robert Layton Monday morning accepted the Wichita, Kan., position and will enter contract negotiations with officials there.

Urbandale Mayor Bob Andeweg said Layton called him Monday morning after speaking with Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer. Andeweg said Layton told him that he accepted the position after taking the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to ponder the decision.

“I’m sad to see him go because he’s been an institution in Urbandale, but I wish him well,” Andeweg said.

Layton did not immediately return a reporter’s phone calls. He was in Wichita on Monday.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Layton said in a press release on the City of Wichita’s Web site. ”I’m eager to move forward with the Mayor and the Council’s agenda.”

Layton’s decision comes after a 4-3 vote Nov. 18 by the Wichita City Council to select him for the position.

Layton, 53, has served as City Manager for Urbandale since 1984. Before that he served four years as a senior administrative assistant to the City Manager in Des Moines; and from 1978-1980 he as an intern budget analyst in Kansas City, Mo.

Under his contract with Urbandale, Layton must give 60 days notice before vacating his position with the city. Layton has said he will honor the contract and hopes to stay through mid-January to complete the city’s 2009-10 fiscal budget.