By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
MAYVILLE — Village leaders here seek a new Department of Public Works superintendent to succeed Andy Hecht who will resign from that job Dec. 13, according to the village Personnel Committee.
Village President Clare Fryers said Village Council members received Hecht’s resignation by email on Friday. Personnel Committee members met Saturday, when Fryers told them the hiring of a new DPW superintendent “is the most serious task the Personnel Committee has ever taken on in your terms here as elected or appointed officials in the village of Mayville.”
Committee members will advertise the job opening and accept letters of applications, and resumes, from job applicants until 4 p.m. on Dec. 10.
“This job cannot be filled by anybody,” Fryers said. “There’s going to be a training period for the person, more than likely, because we’re not going to be able to afford to go out and hire a person with all the licenses and who knows all the details.”
Hecht is the second village department head to resign this fall. Police Chief David Forystek will resign as of Nov. 30 and the council has chosen Tony Coln as interim police chief from December through March.
The Advertiser could not reach Hecht for comment, though Fryers praised Hecht’s performance at Saturday’s committee meeting.
“If you get the opportunity, when it’s all said and done, stop and wish Andy the best,” Fryers told Personnel Committee members.
“He put a lot of time in and took a tremendous amount of abuse,” Fryers said. “The guy stepped into a handicapped situation and performed to the best of his abilities since day one.”
The council could consider job applicants for DPW superintendent at council’s Committee of the Whole meeting at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10.
Council members released a three-page job description for the position. The new superintendent will report to the Village Council and is responsible for “routine day-to-day administrative and technical duties as related to specific public works,” according to the job description.
“Good public relation skills are required, along with a variety of skills related to specific public works and to the operation and maintenance of the village water and sewer systems,” the job description states.
“You have 960 village residents, roughly, and at any given time 950 of them love their DPW, and 10 of them hate it,” Fryers said. “(The superintendent) has to carry that type of burden with them, and be able to do it with a smile.”