NORTHAMPTON – James R. Laurila, the city engineer and acting director of the Department of Public Works, has resigned to take a job in Springfield.
Laurila submitted his resignation Monday. His last day at the DPW will be May 6, he told the Gazette Tuesday.
“I took a new position that’s a great professional opportunity for me,” he said.
Laurila’s new job will be as the director of water operations for the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission. He said he is looking forward to the challenge of working for a system that delivers 30 million gallons of water per day to five communities – 10 times the size of Northampton’s system.
Laurila, 52, of Florence, has led the DPW since former director Ned Huntley left in December. Huntley died in January. Laurila was hired as city engineer about a decade ago. He previously worked in the private sector.
Mayor David J. Narkewicz lauded Laurila’s involvement in major infrastructure projects during his tenure.
“I thank him for his service to the city. I’m sorry that he’s leaving but I also understand that this is a unique opportunity for him,” Narkewicz said Tuesday. “It will be a loss when we lose someone who has that type of expertise and experience.”
Among his accomplishments, Laurila counts his work toward the successful completion of the city’s water treatment plant, the evaluation and analysis of its six water supply dams, creating a watershed management plan and the Pulaski Park renovation and expansion project.
The 2008 construction of the water treatment plant was the largest public works project ever completed in the city. Laurila said his work as project manager of that undertaking was a highlight of his career in Northampton.
Laurila also helped complete assessments of the dams in the city’s reservoirs, which helped prioritize spending to maintain them, he said.
“We’ve done a lot of work on watershed management and protecting the city’s water supply,” he said. The city previously had no comprehensive plan for watershed management. Now it’s one of the best programs in New England, Laurila said.
The program aims to protect and manage the land surrounding the city’s reservoirs. Work included examining logging contracts, forest stewardship plans and expanding city ownership of land near its reservoirs. In recent years that has meant the purchase of 250 acres of land in the watershed, paid for with $400,000 in state grants, Laurila said.
“The soundest way of protected clean water for a community is protecting the watershed,” he said. “Because of the things we’ve done here in Northampton, the city is really viewed as a leader in water supply protection.”
Narkewicz said Laurila leaves a positive impact on the DPW.
“We have great staff at the DPW. As city engineer over the last 10 years he has assembled a really strong team in the engineering department,” Narkewicz said. “I think that’s one of his legacies that will help keep that division and the entire department in a positive direction.”
And Laurila said the DPW and the city are going in the right direction.
“I think the city public works department is in a really good place right now,” Laurila said. “The mayor’s office has been really great and very supportive about the need for funding for capital projects. I think he sees it’s important for a community to be investing in water, sewer and roadways.”
Narkewicz said he expects to provide an update about the search for a new DPW director by the end of this week. The application deadline was last month and a search committee has been reviewing applications.
City engineers have historically been appointed by the DPW director. The DPW has a professional engineer on staff to handle engineering until Laurila’s replacement as city engineer is hired by the future DPW head, Narkewicz said.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.