Updated: Alan Cathcart to retire as Public Works director
Cathcart has worked in Acton for 30 years, making him one of the town’s longest-tenured employees.
Public Works Director Alan Cathcart will retire his post this spring.
Town Manager Kerry Lafleur announced the decision in an email to staff on Thursday. His last day as director will be Friday, June 19.
Cathcart has worked in Acton for 30 years, making him one of the town’s longest-tenured employees.
He’s served “with distinction,” Lafleur wrote in her message to staff, “providing steady leadership across a wide range of critical functions.”
Cathcart didn’t immediately respond to a Acton Bridge phone call Thursday afternoon.
He has overseen major municipal projects, including the planning for a $27.5 million road maintenance spending surge. In 2024, voters approved $50 million in borrowing to improve water supply infrastructure around Nagog Pond and to help mitigate dangerous PFAS chemicals.
Cathcart’s leadership “has helped position the Town well to meet both current needs and future challenges,” Lafleur wrote.
Town leaders will “work closely” in the months ahead “to support a smooth and orderly transition,” she said.
Cathcart previously led the Water and Sewer Division as superintendent. He became CPW director in 2020.
His office has been involved in recent negotiations with the state around a wastewater treatment plant at the former MCI-Acton prison that could boost the town’s limited sewerage capacity.
While Cathcart intends to take some time off, and although he’ll be retired from the head office, Lafleur said he might return in a part-time role “to assist with capital and infrastructure-related initiatives.”
“We are continuing to work through the details of this potential transitional role,” Lafleur said, and she promised to share additional information “as those plans are further developed.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
