By Curt Peterson
Long-time employee BJ Mattson is the recently appointed new permanent highway department road foreman. Mattson, 44, has worked for the department for 18 years. He replaces 20-year road foreman Bill Barrows, who retired in June.
Mattson has been “acting” road foreman since Barrows’ departure, so it’s just an official title change.
Town Manager John Broker-Campbell led the selection process for finding the new Hartland highway department road foreman; the job was posted on multiple platforms to increase awareness of the opening. Following the interview process, BJ Mattson was selected based on qualifications and experience within the department, Broker-Campbell said.
Mattson was born in Hartland, attended the Hartland school, graduated from Windsor High School, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Champlain College in Burlington. He lives with and cares for his elderly step-father in his home on Merritt Road.
“I’m looking forward to some years with the department,” he said. “I don’t really like sitting at a desk, but I do like driving the trucks and operating the equipment, and this job is a blend of both.”
Select Board chair Phil Hobbie remembered an anecdote that illustrates Mattson’s leadership and creativity: Recently, the crew needed to patch some potholes, but were reluctant about doing it without a “hot box” to heat the patching material. BJ used his network to borrow another town’s hot box, and the patching was much better.
“The patches we made with the borrowed hot box have lasted all year,” Mattson told the Mountain Times, “and there’s no waste.”
He hopes the town will be ultimately able to buy a hot box of their own. “They make sense and work really well,” he added.
The highway department has five full-time employees, one fewer than last winter. Mattson believes the five can manage the town roads very well, and isn’t currently searching for an additional employee.
However, he feels the town needs to replace an older truck that has been giving the department problems for years.
“A new 10-wheeler will cost between $280,000 and $300,000,” Mattson said. “And there’s a 1 1/2 year wait.”
Last Jan. 5 he told the Select Board about the necessary lead time. The town would purchase the cab and chassis and then send it to Viking Cives truck works in Williston for the body and any mechanical systems. He hopes the town’s budget will have adequate reserves to pay for the new truck on arrival.
Mattson has contributed to discussions about Bird Hill Road residents’ request for town take-over of their private road. The Select Board walked the site Nov. 18, and BJ has inspected the road from a highway department perspective.
“In order to qualify as a town road,” he told the Mountain Times, “the residents would have to add up to 4 inches of hardpack material, culverts would have to be checked against requirements, and some significant ditching would be needed for proper drainage. On the plus side, the road is wide enough for town trucks, and there is an ample turn-around spot at the end — very important!”
The real issue is the bridge that carries traffic from Brownsville Road to the residences on Bird Hill Road, its actual weight capacity and its statutory weight limit. Mattson said he is not qualified to comment on either, but it’s a concern.
“The road would have to be graded on a regular basis, and our grader weighs about 37,000 pounds,” he said.
