Staff Writer

Amid tables piled high with food and a grill running so hot it nearly melted handles on serving spoons, Public Works employees gathered for their annual cookout last Thursday.

The cookout also marked the retirement of three longtime employees and came as Public Works Director Mike Shaw prepares to restructure department operations for fiscal year 2011.

Today marks the last day for parts manager Doug Donald and equipment operator Victor Cote. On June 30, carpenter Bob Harmon will retire. The men are three of six municipal employees who accepted an early retirement offer made by Town Manager Tom Hall to town employees at least 60 years old.

Employees accepting the retirement plan will have $12,000 deposited to their personal retirement health savings accounts to offset costs of private health and dental plans needed before they are eligible for Medicare, Hall said.

As Donald retires from his job, Shaw said the department will change how it buys parts for more than 200 town vehicles and small machines such as lawn mowers.

Hall said he is now looking at an offer from a private company to carry the parts needed and stock them at Public Works headquarters on Washington Avenue as part of the effort to reduce department spending by more than $174,000 in fiscal year 2011.

Hall declined to name the company because he is still looking over its proposal, but said it manages similar operations in Miami, Chicago and counties in states throughout the country.

The breadth of the operations mean the company buys in bulk and can lead to a 6 to 10 percent savings in what the Public Works Department now pays, Shaw said.

The company will provide the inventory as needed with a commitment to stock at least 85 percent of needed parts on hand and 24-hour access to the remainders. Shaw said the simplified billing procedures will also help reduce office expenses at his department and Town Hall.

As the department shrinks from 33 to 30 employees, Shaw said combining two managerial positions into a deputy director position will also lead to savings and streamline the department.

While his budget calls for more than $61,000 in salary and benefits for a deputy director, Shaw said the position is balanced against eliminating the vehicle maintenance and operations manager jobs.

“The pay is almost inconsequential,” Hall said.

Shaw’s budget is part of the municipal budget that was subject to a public hearing Wednesday, after the Leader deadline. The Town Council will have a second reading and vote on the budget at its May 5 meeting.

While he said he is excited for the future, Shaw was effusive in thanking Harmon, Cote and Donald for their work.

Cote said he began working for the department in 1967. As Shaw presented him with a framed photo of one of the road graders he drove, Cote reminisced.

“It’s only the third one I went through,” Cote said, adding he has also reported to work at three different headquarters in town.

“There are no more dirt roads, either,” he said. “We did more physical work then. Now we come to work with a laptop instead of a wrench.”

As traffic has increased, so have hazards, Cote said.

“On the main arteries, you need someone behind you to protect you while you are working.”

Donald, who said he plans to retire with his wife Sandra to a cabin he built in Dover-Foxcroft, said getting the best value while keeping the department stocked was the biggest challenge of the job.

Harmon, a carpenter who Shaw said “fixed all the squeaky hinges and put all the clapboards in the old town hall,” was given a GPS unit for the recreational vehicle he and his wife Joanie bought.

Although he said he is “going to do what I want to do” in retirement, Cote said he will miss coming to work.

“It is like family,” he said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219