Water Department still has plant operator vacancy

At a sparsely attended June 9 Water Commission forum on Zoom, officials explained that the Water Department is hoping to hire another water treatment plant operator after the new fiscal year starts on July 1. 

The department has been short-staffed for some time due to several departures last year and a statewide shortage of qualified operators. At one point there were only two on the job, although the state Department of Environmental Protection requires four in Lincoln. There are now three full-time operators; the fourth spot is being filled by part-time workers until the department can advertise for another full-time licensed operator after the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

The staff vacancies have cost the department a substantial amount of money because it’s been forced to hire expensive contractors to fill the gaps. The widespread shortage of operators “feels like it’s going to be a gating factor for some time to come, cost-wise,” resident Rick Rundell commented.

Hiring less qualified people and training them on the job would seem like a sensible plan, “but without certain credentialing, very limited in terms of what they can actually do,” Water Commissioner Michelle Barnes said. However, Minuteman Vocational Technical School has a training program for water treatment plant operators that could be a source of apprentices who can do some limited work while also studying for their licenses.

The 9 a.m. forum, which was marred by technical glitches at times, went over the Water Department’s spending requests for fiscal 2021. The department proposes to raise its operating budget by 38% and borrow $270,000 for capital items. That bonding came after two previous bonds totaling $1.98 million that were authorized in 2019 as well as significant hikes in water rates and the operating budget this year.