ATHABASCA – For years Graeme Douglas has commuted to Edmonton for his job, so when the superintendent of public works position with the Town of Athabasca became available, he jumped at the opportunity.
For 23 years Douglas has worked out of Edmonton in highway maintenance starting with the now defunct Pine West Highway Maintenance, then Alberta Highway Services, Carillion and finally Carmax Construction Consulting. It meant a lot of time away from his wife and two children, so the 49-year-old is happy to be able to take a job in his hometown.
“I'm a lifetime resident of Athabasca; I was born and raised here and never left – I shouldn't say never left – my family never moved out. My wife and kids stayed here while I was working in Edmonton and I would drive back and forth,” Douglas said. “I applied for it and here I am, so yeah, it's nice to be back home.”
Douglas is also following in his father’s footsteps as the elder Douglas – Bill – held the same position from 1996 until retiring in 2001 after working his way up the public works ladder.
“My dad did this job; he worked for the town for I think probably 18 to 20 years. So, a lot of the guys I'm working with now, he worked with in the past,” Douglas said.
Town of Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell recalls working with Bill and is pleased his son was hired for the position.
"His dad was the superintendent when I first got elected and when he retired, (current town councillor) Rob Balay took the job. And then after Rob, they had two or three people that didn't work out and then (former town CAO) Ryan Maier hired Rick (Kolach),” she said. "But this guy's really good and God we need that.”
Since starting Aug. 10 Douglas has been getting to know his staff and observing how things operate in his change from the private sector to municipal.
“I don't have any lofty goals of coming in and changing everything and thinking that it's going to work way better the way I want to do it. I think it's working fine the way it is. And there's just little things that I've seen from a larger industry coming into this that can be tweaked and just trying to find efficiencies,” said Douglas.
“I come out of a more upper management role and it's nice to get back to the workings of it; to actually be on the end of a shovel when I want to be. It's the first time in 12 years that I've worn steel-toed boots, so it's kind of nice to be back doing that.”
It is his pride of Athabasca that has kept him here even as he worked away.
"I've lived here all my life. I love the town. I just want to see it continue to get better and hopefully grow and just keep things going.”
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @HLSox
