Saturday, February 10, 2007
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Staff photo by Joe PhelanHe's the guy who made sure that every time you turned the tap or flushed the toilet, it worked.
For nearly 35 years, Glidden has guided and maintained the complex environmental systems that comprise the Augusta Water and Sanitary Districts.
He joined the city in 1972 as an assistant superintendent, becoming general manager of the combined agencies two years ago.
"It's just been fun," said the Maine Maritime Academy-educated engineer. "There haven't been many days I wish I could stay home and not come to work.
"Every day, there was something different -- a project going on or a crisis somewhere or thinking about something that needed to be done."
That labor of love will come to an end next month, when Glidden, 59, steps down to care for his wife during some difficult surgery. The couple then plan to travel and build a new home in the Portland area, closer to their children.
Not many people would think of sewers as "fun," but Glidden credits his success and the joy he has found in his job to his co-workers' dedication and skill.
Ken Knight, co-chairman of the combined water and sewer utility, credited Glidden with educating him as a new district trustee in 2003 and, earlier, as a city councilor.
"Dale is one gentleman who's going to be some big shoes to fill," Knight said. "He certainly treated me extremely well when I came on as a fresh trustee ... and the great financial shape of the sanitary district is largely due to Dale Glidden. I can't say enough good about him."
Glidden oversees an annual budget of about $10 million, with spending split about equally between water and sewer services.
The Augusta Water District serves about 5,600 customers in the city, as well as customers in Manchester, East Winthrop, the Togus veterans center and a few surrounding customers in Chelsea, Vassalboro and Hallowell.
The Augusta Sanitary District has about 4,800 customers in Augusta and treats wastewater from Monmouth, Winthrop, Manchester and Hallowell.
Water and sewer users may take his services for granted -- until something goes wrong.
Glidden takes that as a compliment.
"When people flush a toilet and don't know where it goes, I don't see that as a bad thing," Glidden said. "It means we're doing something right."
He waxes poetic about the craftsmanship of a 100-year-old fabricated brick "teardrop" sewer line that still serves 300 feet of northern Water Street -- or handmade wooden water lines that were still in use until the 1970s.
"To have something in regular use since the late 1800s ... is pretty amazing," Glidden said.
After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy, the Augusta native manned the engine rooms of ocean oil tankers as far away as Alaska and the Persian Gulf.
But after three years, he and his wife decided the separations of as long as five months at a time were too much to bear, so he resigned.
Exxon officials offered him positions in New York, Texas and Oregon, but his wife wanted to stay close to her Augusta roots. With no experience in utilities, he was hired in 1972 as an assistant superintendent with the Augusta Sanitary District.
As for the future, Glidden said water users likely will see a small rate increase in coming years, but long-term water rates should remain relatively stable after a major bond is paid off in 2012.
Sewer ratepayers, however, are facing several large bills in coming years. Major new projects -- including a $1 million upgrade to the sewage treatment plant to reduce overflows into the Kennebec River and meet federal standards -- must be paid.
In several years, he expects another multimillion-dollar project to reduce overflows into the river on the east side of the Kennebec.
Glidden said he is proud the city sewer district has played an important part in improving the water quality of the river, even if those improvements force the district to pay more to meet increasingly stringent standards.
"I remember when I was a boy and the sulfur smell (from the river) would knock your socks off," Glidden said. "You didn't want to walk across the bridge because of the fish kills and the smell was just awful."
Gary Remal -- 621-5642
gremal@centralmaine.com
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