New Public Works Director meets with Emergency Committee

WINSTED — The town’s new Department of Public Works director, Neil Amwake, met with members of the town’s Emergency Citizens Committee to Repair Our Town at the Community Lawyer’s Office at 97 Main St. on Thursday, July 18.Present at the meeting was Town Manager Dale Martin, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, his sister Claire Nader, Democratic selectman candidate Virginia Shultz-Charette, Economic Development Chairman Dick Labich, author and political activist Dimitra Doukas, Selectman George Closson, Community Lawyer Charlene LaVoie and Friends of Main Street President Fran Delaney.Amwake was hired in late June by Martin.“I think we have a good solid leadership team with Neil, Finance Director Robin Manuele and Police Chief Robert Scannell,” Martin said. “My instructions to Neil when I hired him was just to have fun. We have a blank slate, and I think we can do a lot of good things going ahead.”LaVoie said moving forward is exactly what residents want the town to do when it comes to infrastructure.“When [former Department of Public Works Director] James Rotondo gave his report on infrastructure in January at a selectmen’s meeting, we were all like, ‘How long has this been going on?’” LaVoie said. “We formed this group to help get this fiscal year’s budget passed and to focus on infrastructure. When this group was formed, we knew that it was not going to be an overnight fix. We have to maintain a focus on these things, whether it be roads or bridges in town. Infrastructure is not the sexiest thing, but it gets people’s attention.”Amwake said the town’s infrastructure situation is not unique, and other towns and cities across America are facing a deterioration of infrastructure.“The problems across America are varied,” Amwake said. “I think one problem is that people don’t think about where our water comes from. My philosophy is that I look at all of the town’s resources and see how everything fits together. One example, the other day we were talking about a pump distribution system at the water treatment plant that is over 20 years old. We have rebuilt it almost four times. A replacement pump costs $3,000 and to me, it’s time to move on. We spent a lot of time and effort every year to repair the pump.”Amwake said he wants the department to be more transparent with what they are working on.“I think the department should show what we have to do and why we are doing it,” he said. “We should say that $120,000 is our budget and this is what we can do with $120,000. We need to manage expectations, and I want to be more transparent on how we choose capital programs.”“But if we want things done we are going to have to fund it,” Shultz-Charette said.“Correct,” Amwake said in response. “When it comes to vacuuming out catch basins, we have 1,400 in town. We spend weeks of our free time doing this. I want to be more transparent because I don’t think people understand it.”Amwake said it would take not one budget cycle, but several budget cycles for the town to get where it should be when it comes to infrastructure.“I’m not here to come in and turn everything upside down,” Amwake said.