by Joan Eliyesil ·
Friday, September 27, 2024
Tim Kilhart, director of Harvard’s Department of Public Works for the past seven years, will retire effective Nov. 1.
Kilhart told the Press the amount of work required of Harvard’s DPW director has become too much, and the stress level of the job, for him, is “over the top.” He said in addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the DPW and its 11 full-time employees, he has had to find time to meet the demands of several projects, including the Devens water connection, Ayer Road reconstruction, the landfill closure, and the renovation of DPW buildings.
The lack of an administrative assistant means that all administrative work comes across Kilhart’s desk, including invoicing and processing time cards. The “Tier 2” override ballot question, which included funding for a full-time administrative assistant at the DPW, failed in the spring.
Kilhart also spends a lot of time applying for grants, and his efforts have frequently been successful, particularly for road repaving grants from MassWorks. But he said the paperwork required to apply for grants has increased, citing an application that was 13 pages a few years ago but is now 39 pages. Some applications can take as much as 60 hours to write, he said.
In addition, he said the job is becoming more technology driven, and he’s old school. He mentioned the example of a recent trend to use technology to determine when roads need paving. “I’m a boots-on-the-ground guy. I’d rather go out and look at them,” he said. The department also struggles to stay fully staffed, especially in the winter, and he said that adds to the stress of his job.
It was a tough decision, Kilhart said, but his stress has decreased dramatically since he made it. He plans to possibly take on part-time DPW-related work, such as water testing, which he is licensed to do. He’s also looking forward to being able to take a winter vacation now that someone else will be overseeing snow and ice removal on town roads.
Kilhart said he feels that he’s accomplished a lot in his time here, but over the past few years he’s taken on more work than he can handle. “I haven’t figured out how to clone myself,” he said, and added that the town might need to consider hiring an assistant DPW director to help with the workload.
Assistant Town Administrator Allyson Mitchell told the Press the DPW position has been posted, and interviews will begin next week. She said she had received three applications as of Sept. 20, but the application period has no specific deadline and will not close until an offer is made to a qualified candidate. Money was recently found in the DPW budget for a part-time assistant position, which has been posted. Mitchell said interviewing will begin when the new DPW director comes on board.