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- Category: Past Issues
Water,
sewer
chief
resigns
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- When he steps down March 31 as director of the town's Water Pollution Control Authority Director William W. Trayner Sr. said he will be most proud of the constant improvements to the town's water and sewer systems through the years and the accomplishments of the dozen people that work with him.
Folks "have no idea" how hard these people work, Trayner said. The job is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. "When the phone rings, at whatever hour, we have to be there."
Trayner told town officials last week he is resigning to pursue other interests. One of those interests may or may not be retirement. "I haven't decided yet," he said. He made the decision after discussions with his family.
Trayner began March 4, 1991, at the Putnam WPCA. The former maintenance foreman became the director on April Fool's Day, 1996, starting as temporary director.
By March 31, his last day, he will have served 15 years as director.
Normand Perron, acting chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority, said the retirement "was not completely unexpected" as Trayner had hit 20 years total with the authority.
Perron said the town sees this as a good opportunity. In this market, he said, "There should be many good candidates out there. We believe we will get a lot of applications." He added he hopes that the process move quickly enough that there might be an overlap period with Trayner before his last day.
Town Administrator Douglas M. Cutler said the town is putting together an advertisement for Trayner's replacement. The minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in civil engineering or a related field, five to seven years progressively responsible experience in municipal plant construction, maintenance or equivalent and engineering, three years of supervisory management capacity or equivalent combination of educational experience.
The special need for Putnam is that it has one director for both water and sewer. That adds a special requirement: Class II water treatment plant operator and water distribution and certification wastewater treatment plant operator and Class II. "It's a unique responsibility for wastewater treatment AND water," Cutler said. Trayner earned approximately $65,000 a year.
The new director will have to hit the ground running. The town is currently working on a small water treatment plant renovation and is out for bids on a complete upgrade of the wasterwater treatment plant. In addition, the town has dug a new well in the southwest end of town and is working on getting the permitting for that well.
Perron said the town also has "a number of issues" on the water side. There are many 2-inch water mains that are very old and need to be upgraded. The authority, he said, tried to keep its budget down and so will be looking for other sources for funds to upgrade these water mains.
Trayner, who is vice president of the Atlantic States Rural Water and Wastewater organization and a representative to the National Rural Water organization, said he will be heading to Washington, D.C. next month in a continuing effort to expand the "grant and loan pool." Those grants and loans would be used for rural water improvements.