Town’s Supt. of Public Works

Will Leave for Medical Center

By M. D. Drysdale

Randolph’s superintendent of public works, Joe Voci, will leave the town’s employ to become director of plant operations at Gifford Medical Center.

Voci submitted his resignation to a surprised and disappointed selectboard last week.

"This time I mean it," he confirmed in an interview with The Herald.

Voci had accepted an attractive offer from a larger town a few years ago, but the selectboard was able to sweeten the pot and talk him out of it.

This time, the offer from Gifford is just too interesting and too good, Voci said.

At his new position at Gifford he will replace longtime operations director Theron Manning, who will have a new title as Strategic Projects Director, focusing on long-term facilities planning. Voci said he will work under Manning’s direction for a year.

His work for the town drew praise this week from Selectboard Chair Jim Hutchinson.

"Joe Voci has been a great asset to the Town of Randolph," he said. "As our first director of public works, he cut costs and improved the quality of results in all departments.

"Last fall Joe stepped up and guided us through a period without a town manager. He again rose to the occasion and left a better Town than he inherited. Joe's departure leaves a huge pair of shoes to be filled."

Voci began work for the town six years ago as director of the water and sewer department, where he was able to upgrade operations so that the sewer plant does not routinely overflow into the Third Branch during heavy rainstorms.

He so impressed the selectboard with his overall knowledge that the board created the position of superintendent of public works, giving him management of highway operations as well as water and sewer and anything else involving facilities management. He has held that post for four years.

Voci noted that he has agreed to help the selectboard and Town Manager Peter Butterfield with the interview process for his replacement.

"My suggestion will be that the new person should have Randolph at heart," he said. The candidate should be prepared to live in town or close by, he said.

He himself moved to Randolph a few years ago with his wife Teresa, who is Director of Provider Practices at Gifford.

More To Do

The town of Randolph, Voci said, "has accomplished a real lot" in recent years, but it has a couple of big questions before it. Most expensive will be the eventual replacement of the sewage treatment plant, which dates to the 1960s and was upgraded in 1973.

Built at a time when substantial federal money was available for sewage treatment, it was one of the first so-called "secondary" plants built in Vermont and has a very positive effect on the cleanliness of the Third Branch.

Voci said, however, that the life of the plant is limited and it probably needs to be replaced within five to seven years, at a cost of several million dollars.

During Voci’s tenure, the town has won an award from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for treatment plant operation; and two years ago it won the Green Mountain Award for the best wastewater plant in Vermont.

Other important public works projects Voci pointed to include:

• The installation of a cluster of new wells near the Pinnacle Mountain Road;

• Rebuilding of streets and related sewer and water utilities on several village streets—with five projects going on at once at one point.

• The rebuilding, draining and paving of the Chelsea Road;

• A new bridge on Crocker Road.

Still on the table as he leaves his job May 28 are finishing the Mason Road project and rebuilding of the Braley Covered Bridge in East Randolph. He noted the town is currently uncertain whether Mason Road, which was rebuilt and re-ditched last year, will be paved or not. Some residents on the road prefer the new gravel surface to the paved surface, he said.

Voci also recommended that the town increase its overall budget for paving and bridge work.