The man who had the thankless job of explaining why Derby residents needed to cough up another $300 per year to pay for sewer repairs has stepped down from the city’s Water Pollution Control Authority.
John Saccu, the authority’s former chairman, submitted a resignation letter to Mayor Anita Dugatto April 17. It went into effect immediately.
It’s not like he’s going underground, though.
Saccu is still the head of the city’s youth bureau, a paid position. It’s a job that has picked up more and more responsibilities. He works with police, schools, courts and families to steer kids who get into trouble away from the criminal justice system.
Saccu said the responsibilities of that paid job have eaten up time he previously dedicated to the WPCA, which, by the way, was an appointed, volunteer position.
“I’m getting busier and busier with the youth bureau,” Saccu said.
Background
The Derby WPCA oversees the budget of the city’s sewer department.
Saccu was on the authority for about five years. He was appointed by former Mayor Staffieri.
Saccu became chairman of the authority at a crucial moment.
The volunteer group had just blundered badly with its 2012 budget. The WPCA stuffed money for major repairs into its operating budget, causing spending to increase 43 percent in a single year. That caused sewer bills to increase as much as 60 percent for some industrial and commercial property owners.
The increase blind-sided Derby residents and the WPCA eventually recalled some of the bills.
Saccu then appeared at countless meetings of the WPCA and the Board of Aldermen to explain why the sewer system needed $31.2 million in repairs.
Moving On
Voters approved the repairs last November, even though it will cause the average residential bill to increase $300.
The WPCA is now gearing up to actually do the repairs — and to purchase land for a new Roosevelt Avenue pump station. An infrastructure committee appointed by the city’s Aldermen has been formed to supervise the money being spent.
Saccu said it’s a good time to move on, since whoever replaces him will be getting in on the ground floor of the construction phase of the long-planned project.
“We’re just before the all-important construction phase. This is the natural time to make a transition,” Saccu said.
Mayor Anita Dugatto credited Saccu for holding down two positions at once in City Hall.
“We appreciate what he did as a volunteer on the WPCA,” she said.
