Rockland is in the process of finding its fourth Sewer Superintendent in less than two years. The Board of Selectmen and Sewer Commission also voted to fill a vacancy on the Sewer Commission.
Sewer Superintendent Keith Nastasia was hired by the Sewer Commission in April of 2021, but he’s leaving the job to take over as the DPW Director in Holbrook.
“Personally, I don’t want to leave. I think it’s just too toxic,” Nastasia told the Selectmen. “I tried as best I can to be productive for this town, and for the department, to bring in economic development and growth.”
Nastasia said the town has made great strides recently, working with contractors and Suez Water to reduce daily flow despite more than 20 inches of rain. The town will likely receive a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the EPA, which it has not received since 2006.
“We’ve made some great, great strides, it’s been unfortunate that we’ve basically been hogtied to not do any more productivity. That’s what made me decide to move on,” said Nastasia. “It became very, very difficult. I’m a very productive person, and I can’t sit back and not do anything.”
He said the Sewer Commission prevented him from doing inflow and infiltration work, when asked by Selectman Chair Mike O’Loughlin.
Nastasia said Rockland is a great community, and enjoyed working with the residents, Town Administrator Douglas Lapp, Assistant Town Administrator Jennifer Constable, and the Selectmen.
“The town appreciates your hard work. This has been a record-setting year for rain, and your accomplishments at the plant have been unparalleled,” said O’Loughlin. “It’s unfortunate that it came to this, and we find ourselves in a position where we’re searching for now our fourth… superintendent in the last year and a half or so, which is unfortunate. On behalf of the town, I wish you well, thank you for the great job that you did, and your honesty.”
Nastasia said he’d be available if the town needed any help with the transition.
“He’s been incredibly knowledgeable, diligent in his job, proactive, and extremely cooperative,” Lapp said during the meeting. “I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done. We’re sorry to see you go, and we wish you the best of luck.”
The Sewer Commission will now have to fill his role, and had a regularly-scheduled meeting scheduled for Wednesday night. The role of appointing an interim superintendent was not on the initial agenda, but that could be an item for discussion.
The Commission is now back to a three-member board, longtime WBZ reporter/anchor Doug Cope was voted to fill a five-month vacancy. Cope and Paul Bowen were the two applicants for the position.
Bowen told the board he recently attended Sewer Commission meetings, and saw the position as a way to give back to the town. He served as an executive director for a 300-acre camp and conference center in upstate New York before moving to Rockland.
Cope said he worked for 17 years at WBZ radio before retiring. He moved to Rockland about three years ago, but wanted to serve the town. He said he was the Public Affairs Director for the state highway department, worked as the Emergency Management Agency’s Public Information Officer, and worked at the Statehouse as a Communications Director and Chief of Staff for the House Minority Leader’s Office.
O’Loughlin told WATD both were qualified, but Cope’s media experience stood out. The Selectmen approved Cope by a 4-0 vote, the Sewer Commission voted 2-0.
“His ability to communicate with the residents. I think with a potential for a $50 million sewer project and our moratorium that exists in the sewer department, I think it’s important that the residents are getting a clear, honest, concise message from the commissioners,” said O’Loughlin. “Which I think to this point, hasn’t really been done in the best way, the most accurate way, for the residents to understand.”
The Sewer Commission meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday is remote, but information on how to join is posted on the town’s website, and here.
