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Date: 6/6/2022
LUDLOW – When Jesse English took the helm as director of the Ludlow Department of Public Works (DPW), he noticed his crews had to root through drawers and shelves to find old maps they needed before they could go out on a job.
As one of his first acts, English wants to bring new technology to the department so his staff can use tablets and smart phones wherever they are to see updated information on roads, sewers, water mains and drainage systems – anything the DPW touches.
“I would like to give these guys access to new technology that would make their jobs better and more efficient. With this new approach we can pull up a map of the town and have access to whatever mapping we need for an area we’re working on,” he said.
As of now this is just an idea. English would need approval and funding for the new technology before he could proceed with his plan.
English has been on the job for several weeks. He told Reminder Publishing he’s always aspired to be a DPW director.
“I enjoy working for the public. Before I worked for a municipality I was in the military. It’s like a service type thing. I enjoy helping residents and making a difference in their lives. I wanted to have my own department so I could make it a great place to work. This is where I can have the most impact on the community,” he said.
Before coming to Ludlow, English was an engineer in Windsor, CT. and more recently a project manager in West Springfield. He’s no stranger to complicated, difficult, multi-million dollar projects.
In West Springfield he led the installation of a new 4.5-mile pipe and two pumping stations that bring sewer service to an area of town that didn’t have it.
“It was a tough and very complicated project, but it was very satisfying to be able to provide that service to people. That was great. I enjoyed that very much,” he said.
English said the West Springfield DPW has been saddled with staffing issues, not having enough personnel to get the job done. That’s when he stepped in, called upon to manage six multi-million-dollar projects all at once – among them improvements to the town green, new sidewalks, traffic signals, pedestrians crossing, improvements to the town common, installation of a new water main and yet another sewer project.
“I was running many projects at the same time, that was kind of fun because it was so different all day, every day. Things were constantly changing. It was fantastic, I enjoyed it very much because of the complexity of each project. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, and I love a challenge,” he said.
Now that English has his dream job, he’ll oversee everything from negotiating leaf pick-up contracts to being responsible for the town’s sewers, pumping stations, drainage and roads. But for now, English said he is spending his first weeks on the job getting to know his staff, what the town needs and how people like things done.