It's now official, the Town of Fairfield has hired Joe Michelangelo, Cheshire's public works director, to oversee that town's infrastructure.
Fairfield is about twice the size of Cheshire, according to its website, with more than 56,000 residents. A statement from the Fairfield offcials notes Michelangelo will begin his new job on Sept. 6.
“The Fairfield Public Works Department has long had an outstanding reputation," Michelangelo wrote in the statement. "While leaving the Town of Cheshire is difficult, the opportunity to lead the Fairfield Public Works Department is one that I could not pass up. The breadth of activities and amount of projects that the Department is involved in is truly remarkable, as is the quality of work."
Michelangelo will replace a 27-year veteran of the Fairfield department, retiring Public Works Director Rich White.
Cheshire Town Manager Michael Milone said the search for a Michelangelo's replacement will begin this weekend when the job will be posted in professional journals. "We'll cast a wide net." He said internal candidates will be considered as well.
Michelangelo's salary is $112,000, an amount Milone said could increase for the new hire. "We don't know what the market is. We may have to go $5,000 or $6,000 above that," he said. However, Milone emphasized he will work to keep the salary at the same amount, if possible.
The search to replace Michelangelo could take three months, Milone said. That's a concern, he added, because the town is in the middle of its road repaving project and is gearing up to to implement single-stream recycling; both projects are overseen by the public works director.
