The Select Board appointed John Scenna as the new Department of Public Works director at its meeting last Wednesday.
Scenna, who has experience as the Lynnfield Center Water District’s superintendent, is taking over for John Tomasz, who became both the Department of Public Works deputy director and the town engineer.
During a follow-up, Select Board Chair Dick Dalton said he has seen “the good, the bad, and the ugly” regarding project managers during his career.
“John (Scenna) is absolutely an outstanding individual, both personally and professionally, and I can’t stress how valuable he is to this community,” he said. “He is intelligent, he’s practical. He is an extraordinary project manager.”
Dalton said Scenna’s work on the school-building project allowed the town to finish on time and under budget, and that he added aspects of the project that weren’t originally in the scope of work.
Scenna worked with teachers, principals, and administrators throughout the project.
“John knows how to work with people and how to manage situations,” Dalton said.
He said Scenna is responsible for making sure the current public-safety project is ahead of schedule.
“In every respect, he’s always tried to get the town the best deal that we can,” Dalton said. “He’s literally saved this town hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars because of how he’s managed these projects.”
Dalton said that now that Scenna is the town’s DPW director, he expects him to continue to be an “extremely good” manager.
“I have full confidence in this young man that he’ll get assignments and he’ll do them to the best of his ability and always come back with good results,” he said. “That’s what I expect of him and I know I won’t be disappointed.”
“The responsibility of the Board of Selectmen is to appoint a Department of Public Works director,” Town Administrator Rob Dolan said. “Tonight, through this (intermunicipal agreement for shared services with Lynnfield Center Water District), I offer the name of John Scenna, resident of Lynnfield, to this position.”
“He is, if not the best, one of the best public managers I have ever met,” Dolan added.
The intermunicipal agreement for shared services with LCWD and the DPW allows for Scenna and Tomasz to work together in their positions, a structure most other municipalities in Massachusetts have, he said.
“This creates a more efficient, streamlined service with what I believe to be the two best DPW managers in the area working for Lynnfield,” Dolan said. “The system model that we had, which is a separate water district, still should be kept in, but we can work together to eliminate redundancy and have better management for all.”
He said neither Scenna or Tomasz will be receiving an increased salary in their new positions.
The agenda for the meeting did not include a public hearing, which Dolan said is within the right of the board to decide.
