JAY — Being good at physics and chemistry in high school and liking it led Mark Holt of Livermore into the field of wastewater treatment.

Holt’s chemistry teacher at Livermore Falls High School, Bob Clark, told him to look at a program at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

He looked at what the program entailed and followed through 34 years ago, attending the college for two years. He made the dean’s list each semester and earned an associate degree in applied science/environmental control. Since then, he has earned several certificates related to his profession.

Holt went to work at the Augusta Sanitation District, now known as the Greater Augusta Utilities District, in 1984 and left there to go to the Jay Sewer Department on Nov. 5, 1990.

He is the superintendent of the department.

New England Water Environment Association Inc. will recognize Holt with the Operator Award for outstanding achievement during its annual conference in Boston in January 2017.

The award is given annually to a person in one of the six New England states involved in the operations of wastewater operations and who has made significant contributions to the wastewater field.  

“I’ve loved it since I started,” Holt said of his career choice.

Some people may cringe when they think of working in wastewater treatment. But not Holt.

“You don’t notice the smell,” he said. “It is the bacteria you smell.”

He likes his job because it is something new every day, he said.

“You get to work with the public, you get to do lab work, you maintain pumps in compliance with the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and the (Maine Department of Environmental Protection),” he said.

Having been the trainee for so many years, he has reversed roles to be the trainer.

“Now I’m doing training,” Holt said. “I am one of the elders in the industry. All my mentors are retired.”

The job can be stressful at budget times, especially now with what is going on in the town of Jay, he said.

“Every year, we try to find new ways to save money for the ratepayers and taxpayers as all the department done for several years,” he said.

The town is in the midst of its biggest taxpayer declining in valuation and paying less taxes.

Holt does not know who nominated him for the award. It boggles his mind, he said, that someone noticed his work.

“I couldn’t do what I do here without the support of staff at the Town Office and here,” he said Wednesday at the North Jay Treatment Plant.

He credited his co-worker, Alfred Richards, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere, Financial Director Lisa Bryant and Town Clerk Ronda Palmer, among others, for being there for him.

“Alfred takes care of the day-to-day operations,” he said. “I would not be able to do (it) without him.”

The other part is having the trust of the Board of Selectpersons, including allowing him to design-build needed equipment or parts in an effort to save the town money. In one case, about $40,000 was saved. 

“You’ve got to have selectmen’s trust,” he said. “They have got to have confidence in you to do that. The first time they do that and they are willing to take that gamble and it has paid off.”

He has thought outside the box many times. In 2007, instead of buying a new full-size pickup truck for the department, Holt and a local used car dealer went to an auction and bought a 2004 Escape, which was made into a work vehicle. 

dperry@sunmediagroup.net