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ANNUAL REPORT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
MICHAEL J. GANTICK, P.E., DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
FISCAL YEAR 2006 -2007
Fiscal Year 2006/2007 was a year of highs and lows for the Public Works Department. On August 24, 2006, Public Works lost a great friend and colleague when Richard Boudreault, Facilities Manager/Assistant to the Director of Public Works, died in a motorcycle accident. Rich was a true innovator and financial gatekeeper for the Town of South Windsor. During his 19 years, he had saved the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars via his creative ideas and fiscal conservativeness. During National Public Works Week, May 20 – 25, 2007, the Department recognized two Public Works Employees – Chris Gargano, Building Maintainer and Barry Scanlon, Building Maintainer, as the first recipients of the Richard Boudreault Public Works Award. This award will be presented each year to an employee or group of
employees who best typify the characteristics displayed by Richard Boudreault during his tenure with the Town. We in Public Works thank Rich’s wife Susan Boudreault and her family for supporting the Richard Boudreault Public Works Award. The Building Maintenance Department has also suffered two other setbacks when Barry Scanlon, Building Maintainer, has been stricken ill and unable to return to work as of the end of this fiscal year. Additionally, the Department would like to remember Howard Nichols, a temporary Building Maintenance worker who died unexpectedly in June.
On the bright side of things, on February 1, 2007, Clay Major joined the Public Works staff as Facilities Manager. Despite difficult circumstances, Clay has begun to rebuild and reshape the Building Maintenance Division.
Additionally, on December 8, 2006, Melvin C. Stead, Jr., Superintendent of Street Services retired after over 38-1/2 years of dedicated service to the Town of South Windsor. Mel helped shape the professional approach and management of much of the Town’s road and drainage infrastructure. Through his leadership, numerous positive initiatives were undertaken to improve both the quality and cost-effectiveness of managing the Street Services operations. Mel also took great pride in the professional development and training of the work force. The Department decided to recognize Mel’s contributions in this area by naming the new training room at the recently renovated Town Garage – the “Mel Stead Training Room.”
With the retirement of Mel Stead, the decision was made to re-organize the management structure of the Town Garage Operations in an effort to optimize information and program management, to provide greater organization flexibility, and to improve successional planning. Karl Reichle is now the Superintendent of Operations for the Town Garage overseeing the Highway, Motor Equipment and Parks and Grounds Divisions. Mark Owens was appointed Street Services Manager. Richard Rylander was appointed Fleet Services Manager. Steve Lavigueur was appointed Parks and Grounds Manager. Ron Asselin was appointed Administrative Manager overseeing all contracts and bids. John Caldwell was appointed Associate Manager, an entry level position which provides support to all Divisions at the Town Garage. As part
of the re-organization, the Manager’s are required to obtain cross-training and various certifications in at least one of the other disciplines so as to provide greater organizational flexibility and promote better communication.
Finally, as you will read in the following reports from the Division Heads, it was a very busy year for projects. I would personally like to thank the voters of placeSouth Windsor for having the vision to pass the $10 million bond authorization for Road and Drainage Improvements. Over the next 5 – 6 years, this funding will be used to repair and improve critical road and drainage infrastructure in South Windsor to mitigate potential problems.
As always, please feel free to contact me for positive feedback and/or questions on our service.
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