Any participant who enters the military service of the United States shall be given a leave of absence, and any participant may at any time, at the direction of the Board, be given a leave of absence for any other reason. Any such leave of absence must be given in advance and, except in cases involving military service, such leave of absence may be canceled at any time, in the discretion of the Board.
The provisions of the plan relating to termination of employment will not apply to any participant absent on leave of absence granted in accordance with § 54-26 of this article, but the following rules shall apply to such participant:
A. 
As long as such participant continues on leave of absence, as provided in § 54-26 of this article, the Town contributions otherwise required to provide the benefits for such participant set forth in this plan shall be suspended.
B. 
If such participant returns to active employment with the Town within 90 days following the end of such leave of absence, he shall continue as a participant hereunder as though he had continued in the active employment of the Town during such leave of absence. The Town contributions on behalf of such participant shall be resumed with such adjustments as the actuary shall determine to be necessary to provide the benefits set forth in this plan for such participant at his retirement.
C. 
If such participant does not return to active employment with the Town within 90 days following the end of such leave of absence, the employment of such participant shall be deemed to have been terminated as of the commencement of such leave of absence, and he shall be entitled to benefits provided under Article VII hereof as of such date.
During a period of such leave of absence, an employee on such leave of absence shall be deemed to be in continuous employment of the Town for the purposes of the eligibility requirements of Article IV hereof and for the purpose of credited service, as defined in Article II hereof, provided that such employee returns to active employment with the Town within 90 days following the end of his leave of absence.
Any employee who is an elected or appointed official of the Town and whose employment is terminated because he is not reelected or reappointed to an official position in the Town shall be given a leave of absence. Anything contained in this plan to the contrary notwithstanding, such employee shall not be entitled to credited service during the period of such leave of absence nor shall the period of such leave of absence be included for the purpose of determining the percentage of his vested benefit under § 54-22, but he shall be deemed to be in the continuous employment of the Town for the purpose of the eligibility requirements of Article IV hereof. Such participant may elect to terminate his leave of absence and be treated as a terminated participant under § 54-22 hereof by notice, in writing, to the Board.