DeLoach saying goodbye to DPW

Department of Public Works Superintendent Jeb DeLoach will spend his last day on the job July 6.

DeLoach announced his retirement through the Board of Public Works June 6. He turns 61 in August, and looks forward to travel and leisure time mixed in with any consulting work that comes his way. He is confident in the abilities of DPW project engineer David Carriere to fulfill the duties of acting superintendent until a permanent replacement is found, and has faith that the Board of Public Works will continue to do good work.

“Fortunately I’m able to leave it in excellent hands,” he said. “We have a great acting superintendent coming in, and we have an outstanding board. We have a great group of people doing a great job.”

DeLoach said he leaves the DPW with an operational plan in place that is proactive rather than reactive, and was able to execute plans by the Board of Public Works to acquire land and protect the town’s drinking water supply.

While acknowledging that not everyone will like the new pay-as-you-throw trash system, he said he thinks it’s a fair system, particularly for people who produce less trash than others, and it will save the town money by reducing the amount of trash that goes out and encouraging recycling.

Board of Public Works chairman Bob Shaughnessy said DeLoach was the right person for the job when he was hired as superintendent in March 2004 to put a plan in place laying out the work that needs to be done in town and setting a course for implementing the plan.

“He’s done an excellent job,” he said. “He’s done what the board asked him to do.”

Shaughnessy said DeLoach’s plan contributed to the board’s ability to identify parcels the town could purchase to benefit the town, and that he understands DeLoach’s desire to retire now, although his contract expires in February.

A search committee will be formed to seek a permanent replacement for DeLoach. Shaughnessy said Carriere has been given a six-month contract to give the board sufficient time to find the best candidate.

“I want to make sure it’s a fair and open process,” he said.

Each board member will appoint one person to the search committee to serve along with town counsel Robert Marzelli and town treasurer and tax collector Nancy Holt. Shaughnessy said the committee would recommend three to five candidates to the board for interviews in open session after advertising for candidates. The board would then screen the finalists and announce the next DPW superintendent.

Carriere, a marine engineer and chairman of the town’s wind turbine generator study committee, has substantial experience in public works activities and management from his days in the Hudson light and power department, according to board members. DeLoach described Carriere as smart, hard-working and a leader.

DeLoach, a retired U.S. Navy Reserve captain who is retired from Northeast Utilities, almost resigned as DPW superintendent in August 2005 to join members of an international energy and environmental consulting firm building power plants in Kabul, Afghanistan, but was granted a leave of absence instead. He returned to his job in March 2006.