After four years guiding Waterbury Recreation, Nadeau leaves for Maine

July 29, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

Summer days are busy at the Waterbury pool with summer Recreation Camp kids and staff. Photo by Gordon Miller

A little over three months after getting a promotion to a new position in Waterbury town government, Nick Nadeau is headed to Maine where he has accepted a position as a town administrator. 

On Monday, Aug. 1, Nadeau starts his new job in Blue Hill, Maine, a move announced in the Ellsworth American newspaper on June 29. “The [Blue Hill] Select Board on June 27 appointed Nicholas Nadeau to the job, according to a press release,” the newspaper reported, referring to him as “assistant town manager” of Waterbury. 

Blue Hill is located on the Maine coast in Hancock County, just west of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. The population of Blue Hill was 2,792 in the 2020 census.

Nadeau will be the town’s second town administrator. 

Nick Nadeau at the Waterbury pool on July 23. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The news of his departure from the Waterbury town staff was announced in a Summer Recreation Camp newsletter sent to families of the children enrolled, and shared by Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk in an email to select board members earlier this month. No public announcement was made at any of the board’s three meetings in July. Shepeluk was not available for comment on the matter earlier this week. 

Nadeau joined the Waterbury town staff in June 2018 as recreation director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s in education from Johnson State College, now Northern Vermont University. Last fall, Nadeau completed his doctoral studies in education through Liberty University. 

His job on the Waterbury town staff changed this spring when the Waterbury Select Board voted on April 18 after a lengthy executive session to give him a new position – assistant municipal manager for community services. 

That came after the board approved a promotion for Nadeau at its April 4 meeting. The board in reviewing updated pay rates and ranges for municipal staff, approved a recommendation from Shepeluk to shift Nadeau from an hourly position at $23.50 per hour to a salaried position that worked out to $33 per hour. Given overtime paid in 2021, Shepeluk pointed out that the increase would have amounted to about $6,000 this year for a total of $68,640. 

The move was described as a way to acknowledge Nadeau’s additional education and expanding responsibilities on the town staff. Shepeluk, however, in proposing the promotion recommended the title of Director of Recreation and Community Services. 

The new position for Nadeau was accompanied by a decision to hire a recreation program coordinator who would report to Nadeau. That happened in May when Wyatt O’Brien, who has worked on the recreation department staff for several years, was hired for that role. 

Another position of a municipal enforcement officer created with the 2022 budget was to fall under Nadeau’s supervision. That new job was intended to combine several part-time functions including parking enforcement, animal control, and health officer into one position. The select board recently agreed to wait to advertise and fill that position until at least fall or perhaps later. Shepeluk has recommended waiting to fill that spot until a new municipal manager is hired. 

Shepeluk is retiring at the end of 2022 and a search is underway now to recruit and hire his successor later this year. 

The select board also at Shepeluk’s recommendation had officially designated Nadeau as the administrator for the American Rescue Plan Act funds that the town is receiving from the federal government. The $1.54 million allocation for Waterbury comes with reporting regulations and a requirement for a town staffer to oversee those details. 

Despite these steps regarding Nadeau’s position, following the select board’s action on April 18, Nadeau’s job title was not changed on the town website. As of this week, Nadeau was still listed as Recreation Director. The only mention of “Assistant Municipal Manager for Community Services” was in the minutes from the April 18 select board meeting.

Select Board Chair Mike Bard, who returned from vacation this week, said he was not surprised to hear that Nadeau had decided to make a move. “We thought Nick might leave,” he said. Following the changes to Nadeau’s position, Bard said that Shepeluk and Nadeau “had a big disagreement” about how the changes would work. “There was a lot of miscommunication. I think it was on both sides,” he said. 

A ‘bittersweet’ decision

Nadeau did not want to comment publicly about details of the various transitions in the past three months that led to his decision to leave. He summed up by saying it was due to “indecision and lack of clarity” from town leadership about his position. He said he turned in his resignation to Shelepuk on July 5. 

It was not an easy decision, Nadeau said, calling the move “bittersweet.” In his letter to recreation families, he said “it stems from a disagreement in the advancement of my professional position within the town government and the future of the municipality.”

He noted that his new role in Blue Hill will “allow for more professional growth” but “it is heartbreaking to be leaving Waterbury – a community that I have poured so much of my soul into and that has reciprocated with so much support.”

He thanked families and recreation staff that includes summer and after-school camp counselors and lifeguards. “I am so proud of all the work we have done. I have had some amazing staff over the years, working with incredible children and families from all walks of life,” he wrote. “We’ve prioritized inclusiveness so that each person can give our program a try, no matter what their background. Rec revenues have exceeded each year’s projections, allowing us to soften the burden of the department’s contribution to the tax rate, all while maintaining efficient and high-quality programming at an affordable rate.”

Seeing growth and progress with program youngsters, Nadeau said, was especially rewarding. “I have witnessed so many of our kiddos develop crucial social skills, problem-solving tactics, and self-regulating strategies, all while being supported in a safe and welcoming environment – I am most proud of this accomplishment.”

Focusing on progress 

In an interview on Monday, Nadeau stressed accomplishments in recreation programming and facilities during his time as director. He pointed to growth in the summer recreation camp that this year has 235 children enrolled; parks have had new playground equipment and other capital improvements, he said. 

In 2021, the department received a Spirit of ADA Award from the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation that recognized progress made in Waterbury on its policies and practices to accommodate people with disabilities both as program participants and staff members. 

That acknowledged a turnaround following the 2019 suit against the town from the Vermont Human Rights Commission claiming Waterbury did not do enough to accommodate a child with an emotional disability who was enrolled in the town’s summer camp program prior to Nadeau’s arrival. 

Nadeau drew praise from select board members during the budget process this year. They noted the growth in town programming that was self-sustaining through user fees. Multiple grants Nadeau secured through Shaw’s parent company Albertsons led to purchases of vans for the recreation department that are used for field trips and transporting campers, staff, equipment and food. 

Pandemic ‘Ray of Kindness’

The department in 2020 and 2021 was dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and altered its programming to meet new needs in the community. Changes in the public school schedule, for example, prompted the department to create a weekday program during and after school to offer supervision for youngsters with working parents as school was on a limited in-person schedule. 

Grant funding through Shaw’s also allowed the department to contract with local restaurants to supply daytime meals for local youth during the summers both years. 

For those efforts just on July 13, Nadeau received a letter from Gov. Phil Scott thanking him for his “efforts to spread joy and kindness to your community” and offering recognition through the governor’s Ray of Kindness initiative during the pandemic. 

“As the Waterbury Recreation Director, you got creative to provide safe, rewarding and fun childcare programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. By working to keep your doors open so kids had the care and enrichment they needed, as well as your efforts to supply meals, you've helped kids and parents thrive through two unpredictable years,” the governor’s letter states. “It’s Vermonters like you all – who band together during hard times – that have helped us light the way for the nation in our acts of kindness and community spirit.…. I hope you continue your good work.” 

Recreation Committee member Phoebe Pelkey called Nadeau’s departure “an incredible loss for the town.” 

She pointed to numerous improvements made during Nadeau’s tenure to recreation programming that made camps and lessons popular in the community, policies that included disability and inclusiveness training for staff, steps to create a brand for the department, online registrations and payments, and support from funding sources beyond tax dollars.  

“He really has completely turned the rec department around and had huge plans for future growth,” she said. “We hope to start looking for a new person once the new town manager is in place.”

Going forward, Nadeau has handed off responsibilities for the remaining summer recreation camp weeks and the fall after-school recreation program to Recreation Program Coordinator O’Brien.  

On Thursday, staff from Shaw’s supermarket helped throw a lunchtime barbeque sendoff for Nadeau at summer recreation camp. Nadeau spent his final day Friday with the camp children and staff. He starts his new job in Blue Hill on Monday. 

Ellen Best, chair of the Blue Hill Select Board, in an email to Waterbury Roundabout on Tuesday said that the town has hired Nadeau for a two-year contract at an annual salary of $90,000. 

“He has really impressed us with his enthusiasm for municipal service, his combination of municipal experience and education, his people skills, his clear interest in being a part of our town and his ready sense of humor,” Best said. 

Waterbury Select Board Chair Bard said he would like to shake Nadeau’s hand. “I really value Nick as a town employee. He did a wonderful job,” Bard said. “I’m sorry to see him leave, but if it’s a good opportunity, I wish him well.”