After a winter that slammed the Westbrook Public Services crew with a continuous barrage of snowstorms, Tom Eldridge realized he was ready to retire.

“It’s time,” the department director said Tuesday.

That day comes on May 15 – 43 years to the day when Eldridge, not too long out of high school, was hired by Westbrook Public Services at $2.81 an hour.

With four decades on the job, Eldridge has seen major changes, and growth, in the department. For almost a decade, the city has planned for a new public services building to replace the aging expanded garage on Saco Street. Eldridge will retire just as work on the new, $8.7 million facility is scheduled to break ground.

“I’m a little torn with that because I’d like to see it come to fruition,” he said. “But, this winter kind of convinced me it was time.”

Eldridge, 62, said that this winter, especially the stretch in February of multiple storms and bitter cold, was the worst he remembers. He said because there was never a warm-up, all the snow that fell stayed on the ground, making the job more difficult for his crew. He said the crew struggled, and is tired, but did a good job.

“After many, many years of dealing with snow storms and winter conditions, I’ll be anxious to sit home and watch a few from my living room,” he said.

On Tuesday, a bulldozer was driving up and down a massive pile of snow dumped on the Saco Street property. Eldridge said it wasn’t until the last couple weeks that crews had time to begin snow removal.

After 43 years, he’s not only established longstanding relationships with his crew, but also other city staff and officials. City Councilor Mike Sanphy, who is a veteran of the Westbrook Police Department, said he worked with Eldridge when he was an officer and Emergency Management director.

“He was always great to work with,” Sanphy said, listing off a number of challenges Eldridge fielded, including a few hurricanes, the flood of 1996 and the ice storm of 1998. “No matter the situation, Tom was always cool, calm and collected.”

Sanphy and Eldridge also shared Westbrook’s Employee of the Year honors in 1999.

“I think Tom is going to be a hard act to replace,” he said.

While he likes to credit the difficult winter with his retirement, Eldridge said it’s something he’s been planning for a while.

Mayor Colleen Hilton said Wednesday that it was a running joke between the two to discuss his retirement plans. She said he has been keeping her informed for the last five years on his trajectory for retirement.

Hilton said that in her work for VNA Home Health, she has staff members on the roads throughout Cumberland County, who are constantly relaying comments on Westbrook’s roads during winter storms.

“His scope of responsibility is an area that I honestly don’t receive a lot of complaints about,” she said. “He and his team have done a really good job.”

She added that Eldridge has also been extremely patient with planning for the new public services facility. She wondered if he might stick through to see the new building completed.

“It will be really awesome to have him come back, and he’ll certainly play a key role in any ribbon-cutting,” she said.

When he started at Westbrook Public Works in 1972, the department looked a lot different from what it does now. The department today encompasses public services, streets, fleet maintenance, parks and cemeteries and recycling. Four decades ago, it was simply public works.

Eldridge started in the wastewater division, headquartered in the same building. He became a supervisor in 1981, a deputy director in 1994, and director in 2004.

When Eldridge was hired in 1972, the budget was split between general maintenance, at about $178,000, and winter maintenance, at roughly $167,000.

While the department’s overall budget has changed to include other facets of city work, next year’s proposed spending plan will be just under $4 million.

When he first started, he said, the department handled more construction projects like sewer, storm drains and catch basins. In the year he was promoted to director, departments were consolidated, and parks, cemeteries and forestry fell under the Westbrook Public Services umbrella.

“I think it was a good thing,” he said, “with the limited resources we had in-house. We’re more of a maintenance-type operation now.”

He said other than the offices and employee space that was added 15 years ago, the building is the same. He called the new facility “long overdue.”

Arty Ledoux, the deputy director of public services, has worked side by side with Eldridge as his deputy for seven years. Ledoux has been with the department for 15.

On Wednesday, Ledoux called Eldridge a mentor and friend, adding that he’s always been an “excellent steward” of the budget for taxpayers.

“He constantly strived to get the job done in the most efficient and cost effective manner, a virtue that he has instilled in all of us,” Ledoux said.

Also referring to Eldridge’s handling of repeated tough winters, Ledoux said Eldridge always “set the bar high,” in terms of knowledge and strategy in fighting winter storms.

“For years he has been the driving force behind the excellent road conditions following a storm,” he said. “Through Tom’s leadership, the department receives many accolades throughout the winter. Again, he has set the bar high and those will be big shoes to fill.”

The city has yet to name Eldridge’s replacement as director, though Ledoux is in line as deputy. Hilton said Wednesday that city officials are still contemplating options.

Eldridge’s retirement is technically May 15, but his last day in the office is April 15.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said they’re looking at “organizational changes” in response to Eldridge’s departure, which he will present at the next finance committee meeting Saturday.

Eldridge has lived in Westbrook his entire life, now residing in the Prides Corner neighborhood. His mother, Ethelyn, worked in the Westbrook clerks’ office, and his sister, Susan, retired from Westbrook Housing last year. He said after he leaves, it will be the first time an Eldridge hasn’t worked for the city since 1958.

When asked if he’d be stopping into the public services garage from time to time, he said, referring to plow drivers, “When they hit my mailbox, I’ll know the number.”

Westbrook Public Services Director Tom Eldridge stands in front of a snowplow Wednesday. After 43 years on the job, Eldridge is retiring in May. Staff photo by Andrew Rice