Officials: Water Department Superintendent Has Resigned

The Southington Water Department is under new leadership after Superintendent Thomas West gave verbal notice of resignation late last week, officials said Monday.

West, who oversaw operations at the for the past 12.5 years, gave verbal notice to Assistant Superintendent Fred Rogers and his resignation was expected to take place effective immediately said Erik Semmel, president of the Board of Water Commissions.

“We have all been made aware of his intentions, but as far as the board is concerned, it won’t be official until we receive the paperwork. He has not filed that yet,” Semmel said Monday.

Joseph Beharry, president of United Public Service Employees Union, Local 424 Unit 41, said in an email that circulated among town officials on Monday that water department employees were told Friday of the resignation. The resignation was to take place immediately, the email said.

The resignation comes after a turbulent end to 2011 that included a process analysis study into department operations after $900 went missing sometime in early June.

Police records showed that the missing money was reported after at the beginning of the summer. Water board officials said the money included $500 in cash that had accidently been left in a bag with medications that was dropped off during a medical waste disposal program in late April, 2011, and the remaining $400 was “lost in transit” while being taken to the bank for deposit.

The officially closed the case without and arrest after all leads dried up, saying they were hopeful a forensic audit would help provide additional information but the audit was never conducted. Instead, the water board chose to conduct the process analysis.

“Without further information, there was nothing more our detectives could do,” .

The department has held several meetings in the past month which included executive matter discussions regarding personnel, but Semmel said he could not comment on whether those executive session discussions involved West.

“Those matters, whether they involved Mr. West or not, were conducted in executive session and we simply can’t discuss anything held in session,” Semmel said Monday.

Several other members of the water board declined comment Monday, referring questions to Semmel.

Several water department employees said Monday evening that “it wasn’t entirely surprising” to hear West resigned because rumors had been floating around for some time.

Semmel said West will be immediately replaced by Rogers, who will serve as the interim superintendent until the board can conduct a full hiring process as regulated in the board’s bylaws. The water department operates as a separate entity from the town of Southington as a result of a court decision over 50 years ago that determined the department is a quasi-private organization.

“We are confident that in the interim, Mr. Rogers can step in and keep things running smooth. He has plenty of experience and knows how the department works."