The resignation of Orono’s longtime public works director last week is the latest in a string of municipal staffers leaving the town since last fall.
Rob Yerxa, who the town hired in July 2008, resigned Feb. 13 for a job with the Maine Municipal Association’s loss control department. It’s a career path that he has considered for a long time, he said.
His last day will be March 15, interim Town Manager Cornell Knight said.
Yerxa’s resignation comes four months after the Orono Town Council approved the departure of former manager Sophie Wilson, who was hired in 2011 and whose exit cost the town about $95,000. The town is working with Texas-based firm Strategic Government Resources to find its next manager.
Leading up to Wilson’s departure were the exits of a few longtime municipal staffers last year, including Assistant Town Manager Belle Ryder, Town Planner Kyle Drexler and executive assistant Nancy Ward, who retired after 22 years with the town. They left their positions last September and October.
“Even if Sophie and the others were still here, I think with the opportunity that came up, I might still be leaving,” Yerxa said. “It was time for me professionally and personally to make this change.”
Yerxa was hired to replace Calvin Smith after his retirement, according to the town’s 2008 annual report.
The first major project that came across Yerxa’s desk was the construction of the Orono Public Library on Pine Street in 2009.
Yerxa and his team also worked with the Maine Department of Transportation on the roundabout at the intersection of Rangeley Road and Park Street, a major infrastructure project completed in 2018. It was hard to get funded and involved a lot of coordination, but it made the intersection safer, he said.
Yerxa is especially proud to have worked as the project manager when the public works facility moved from a 1960s building on Penobscot Street to a new 17,000-square-foot fleet maintenance facility with staff offices on Kelley Road in 2015. The site also includes a sand and salt storage building and a bulk fuel facility, according to the town website. Yerxa manages a team of 17 people.
“The people that I’ve worked with, both town employees and members of the community, are what I’ll miss the most,” he said. “Orono is a great community, and I’ve really enjoyed this experience.”
