Manny Furtado Admired for Work at Waste Treatment Plant

Manny Furtado, Branford’s Head of the , will no longer be awaking for work at 4:45 a.m. every weekday to trek more than one hour to his office from his home in Danbury. It’s bittersweet for Furtado, but he said he’d be taking up post in Westport at their treatment plant in favor of a little more money and a much shorter commute.

Many in town gathered on Wednesday say goodbye to Furtado, recognizing his service to the town for 10 years.  He's most revered for his work of pulling the town out of serious issues with the then Department of Environmental Protection (now DEEP) and the Environmental Protection Agency. His work with Town Engineer Janice Plaziak to implement GIS mapping systems of Branford’s sewers as well as the town infrastructure in order to adhere to the state’s consent decree regarding the DEP case was among Furtado’s greatest accomplishments he said. Going through the lawsuit with the DEP/EPA for Branford’s lack of proper sewage management over the last 30 years is what Furtado called a blessing. “It got us to do a lot of work that needed to be done.”

Currently Furtado is proud to state that Branford’s GIS system is among the very best in the state.

Pam Paprocki, Administrative Assistant for the Public Works Department, said she is sad to see her friend leave Branford. “He really came in and cleaned this place up,” she said. “It’s really our loss.”

Alex Cinotti, Assistant Director for East Shore District Health Department worked with Furtado during his tenure and he said he’s sad to see him leave. “He’s a very thorough treatment plant operator. Manny had a good way of collaborating with all the agencies.”

Probably the person most upset about seeing Furtado go was his own administrative assistant, Camille Link. “He’s been great,” she lamented of her boss’ imminent departure “He was always a professional but brought much humor to the job.” When she first learned that he was leaving, she said, “my heart broke. It felt like the family split up. It was really a family atmosphere down here and it will be hard to replace.”

Currently no one has been hired to replace Furtado but Operations Manager of the plant, Dan Gregory will be serving in the interim.

Furtado finished his final week in Branford yesterday and will be starting in Westport on Monday. He said he’s looking forward to spending more time with his six grandchildren and being closer to home. He did state the Branford Festival is the town event he’ll miss the most and said he has every intention of coming back to enjoy it next summer.