FORT KENT, Maine – Fort Kent will have a new public works director next year when Chad Pelletier takes over after current director Tony Theriault retires.
Fort Kent Town Council voted in favor of appointing Pelletier to the role after an executive session during a Nov. 12 meeting. Council Chairman Corey Pelletier abstained from voting because he is Pelletier’s brother.
Chad Pelletier said after the meeting that he has been with the Fort Kent Public Works department for 17 years.
Pelletier officially starts as director at the beginning of 2025. His annual salary is roughly $76,100.
“I started off part-time in the winter driving a snow truck when I had a seasonal job, prior to this,” he said. “And then I came on full-time in 2012 and I was a plow truck driver. Then I went to the payloader. And then, grader and working foreman in 2021.”
Theriault started in 2007 and will be retiring at the end of the year. Pelletier said that Theriault, who is 65, informed the town earlier this year that he plans to retire via the Maine State retirement system by the end of 2024.
Since starting at the department, Pelletier said it has been his hope to eventually take the director position once Theriault retired.
“I expressed interest to the town manager, and she told me there’d be an application process,” he said. “I did that, and interviewed a couple weeks ago, and I was offered the job.”
Pelletier said the department has been doing well, and that he hopes to continue working there into the future.
“We have a good thing going,” he said. “I don’t want to make any crazy changes, just keep everything within budget and be efficient.”
He said that while the past couple winters have been mild, he doesn’t anticipate it staying this way.
“In Fort Kent, we average 151 to 160 [inches of snow] per year,” he said. “We haven’t seen that in a little while. But we’re ready if we get hit.”
The department consists of four full-time and seven part-time employees.
Theriault will be helping Pelletier in the weeks leading up to the transition.
“I’ve been working closely with him,” Pelletier said. “I’ve always asked him questions, but now he’s showing me the office side of things, and that’s gonna be my biggest learning curve.”
He said Theriault is also willing to answer any questions on the phone after the transition if he needs additional help.
“I just want to say thank you to my boss, Tony,” he said, “for being a great mentor, always being patient, and being a great leader. I wish him well in his retirement.”
