Overview:
After leading Athol's Public Works Department for six years, Dick Kilhart has announced his retirement. Kilhart was honored by the town's Selectboard and has been responsible for the improvement or replacement of 13 bridges in Athol, as well as the Lord Pond Plaza project and securing funding for the $10 million Five Points project. Assistant Director Paul Raskevitz has been named acting director and will take over the role. Kilhart's last official day is April 3, and he is looking forward to spending time with his three grandsons and sleeping until seven on Mondays.
ATHOL – After six years leading Athol’s Public Works Department, Dick Kilhart has decided it’s time to retire.
Kilhart was honored by the town’s Selectboard at its meeting on Tuesday, March 17, when he was presented with a certificate of appreciation by board Chair Rebecca Bialecki. Assistant Director Paul Raskevitz, who has been named acting director, was joined by department employees Jeff Thiem and Mark Summers to see their boss receive the honor.
Town Manager Shaun Suhoski spoke of some of Kilhart’s accomplishments while at the helm of the DPW.
“I don’t know if the community realizes how many bridges have been replaced,” said Suhoski. “These are legacy projects.”
In total, the outgoing DPW chief has been responsible for improvements to or replacement of 13 bridges in Athol.
The town manager also lauded Kilhart for his involvement in the Lord Pond Plaza project, seeing to it that the repaving of Main Street from the South Main Street Bridge to Athol High will take place this year, and for securing the funding for the $10 million Five Points project.
Suhoski also praised Kilhart for “the teamwork you had with the Planning Department, with the Selectboard, with my office. And you’ve served as a mentor and a great colleague to your successor in office, and that says a lot about you. We’ve been in good hands, and we’ll be in good hands moving forward.”
Kilhart joined the Athol DPW in 2018 after leaving the director’s job in Ware to work as assistant under former director Doug Walsh in Athol. He then took over as director when Walsh retired in 2020.
“I started in this business in the spring of 1986,” Kilhart said in an interview with the Athol Daily News. “So, this now makes 40 years, and I’ve always said that 40 years is probably going to be the limit.”
When he took his first job in Orange, he said he was paid $2.88 an hour.
“It’s been 40 years of putting this thing next to your bed every night and answering phone calls,” said Kilhart, referring to his phone. “You’re on call 24/7/365. And there’s the night meetings, too. Lots of times, the job doesn’t end at four or five o’clock.”
Asked what he’s looking forward to, Kilhart, whose last official day is Friday, April 3, said, “On Monday, April 6, being able to sleep until seven.”
In addition, he said, “We’ve got three grandsons now that we spend time with, one in Georgia. So, we use our vacation to travel and be with them.”
He said two grandsons are 3 years old and one is 5 years old.
“Being a public servant is challenging,” said Kilhart. “Even more so now, simply because things cost way more than they used to. The regulatory agencies demand more of your time than ever before. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) are the two regulatory agencies we deal with most of the time. For example, the Athol landfill has been closed for almost 30 years, but we still are required to monitor and do testing.”
Kilhart admitted he’s been prepping for retirement a bit. “I will tell you that I have not, for the first time in four years, checked my email on the weekend; and it’s been nice. My wife has said, ‘Aren’t you going to check your email?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m practicing for April.’”
Kilhart couldn’t leave without praising his team.
“We have a really good crew. And we have a lot of professionals in multiple positions who do professional work. Our guys and gals do a really good job. We’re public servants, we work for the public. There are days when the phone rings and people aren’t happy for one reason or another, but I’ve tried to instill in my staff that we are there for them.”
Regarding his successor, Raskevitz, Kilhart said, “The town will be in good hands with Paul. He’s very capable and he knows his stuff.”