Acting Public Works Department Superintendent Richard P. Kaczmarczyk has helped build parks, dealt with the aftermath of the October 2005 flood that put the highway department underwater, and recently assisted his longtime friend, Monson Highway Surveyor John R. Morrell, after the tornado hit that town on June 1, causing rampant destruction.
Photo by Lori Stabile. Palmer's acting public works department superintendent, Richard P. Kaczmarczyk, is retiring on June 30 after 37 years working for the town.PALMER - Acting Public Works Department Superintendent Richard P. Kaczmarczyk is retiring June 30 after 37 years with the town.
“It’s time to move on and let someone else take a crack at it. You get to a point in these jobs and you just know, it’s time,“ Kaczmarczyk, 59, said recently.
The brutal winter helped convince him to retire. The region was hammered with back-to-back snowstorms, and Kaczmarczyk was there with his crews, plowing all night.
When they weren’t plowing, they were moving the snow.
“There were long, long hours,“ he said.
Since 2004, Kaczmarczyk has been the acting director, overseeing the cemetery, parks, highway, tree warden and wastewater treatment departments. His promotion was not without controversy, and some residents and councilors have questioned having someone serve for years in an “acting“ role.
The public works department superintendent was a new position in the charter that went into effect in 2005, and the person holding it is supposed to have an engineering degree, something Kaczmarczyk lacks. The post was modified in a charter change, which put a two-year time limit on how long someone could serve without the degree.
Kaczmarczyk said the ongoing budget problems have been hard to deal with, noting that the department has lost 15 positions since 1991.
“This is a big town. It requires a lot of upkeep,“ Kaczmarczyk said. “I see stuff that I know has to be done and we just do not have enough money to do it.“
He is proud of initiating a road repair program in 2004; Palmer has 220 miles of roads. He has helped build parks, dealt with the aftermath of the October 2005 flood that put the highway department underwater, and recently assisted his longtime friend, Monson Highway Surveyor John R. Morrell, after the tornado hit that town on June 1, causing rampant destruction.
Kaczmarczyk loaned him an electronic sign, and helped direct out-of-town crews to problem areas. He went to Monson at 6 p.m. that night to help Morrell.
“In all my years on the Fire Department, all the storms that I’ve been through, you name it, never in my life have I seen something like that and I never want to see it again. I was sick,“ Kaczmarczyk said.
Kaczmarczyk also was an assistant chief with the Palmer Fire Department before he retired in 1999; he served there for 30 years.
Kaczmarczyk said the public works director job can’t be done from behind a desk. It’s a hands-on position. He praised the employees under him, saying they did unbelievable work this winter, along with the plowing contractors he hired. He also said the town should have one public works building, instead of four buildings like it has now.
"They don’t teach you public works in schools . . . This is a nuts and bolts job in a small town,“ Kaczmarczyk, a Palmer native, said.
“I’ve always done things that are good for the majority, not the minority,“ Kaczmarczyk said.
He plans to take the summer off, then look for a new job in the private sector. He said he can’t sit at home for too long.
“It’s been a good ride,“ Kaczmarczyk said.
Acting Town Manager Patricia A. Kennedy, also retiring at the end of June, said she has worked with Kaczmarczyk for many years, and that he has always been a “gentleman and a professional.“
“He knows every rock and nook and cranny in the town, and that’s something you only get by serving a long time. You can’t replace that,“ Kennedy said.