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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, April 3, 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
City of Newburgh.. . . . . . . . . . . 20
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8
Meadow Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Town of Newburgh. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Newburgh Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . 9
New Windsor.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 30
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
PUBLIC AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3
New Windsor Town Board, 7 p.m.,
Town Hall, 555 Union Ave., New Windsor.
THURSDAY, APRIL 4
Newburgh City Council Work
Session, 6 p.m. City Hall, 83 Broadway.
Town of Newburgh Planning Board. 7
p.m. Town Hall, 1496 Route 300, Town of
Newburgh.
MONDAY, APRIL 8
Newburgh City Council meeting. 7
p.m. City Hall, 83 Broadway.
Newburgh Town Board meeting. 7
p.m. Town Hall, 1496 Route 300, Town of
Newburgh.
MONDAY, APRIL 15
City of Newburgh IDA. 6 p.m. City
Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall
,83 Broadway.
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The Mid Hudson Times (USPS 000-5947) is a weekly
newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh,
NY 12550, with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court,
Newburgh, NY. Single copy: $1 at newsstand. By mail
in Orange, Ulster or Sullivan Counties: $40 annually,
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Times, 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550.
50 years in the water department
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
J
ohn Hess spent the past 50 years
learning all the intricacies of
operating a water plant, from
learning new technology at 72 years old
for payroll to figuring out how to operate
and understand the machinery of a brand
new power plant.
On March 6, 1959 at 17 years old Hess
started working for the City of Newburgh
Water Department. His father worked
with the recreational department and
helped him get a position.
“The first day we were out raking a
bunch of pine needles,” said Hess. “It
hadn’t been raked in a couple of years and
we were up at that time it was the water
superintendent’s house on Washington
Lake, the White House. We were there for
two to three days, it hadn’t been raked in
a couple of years.”
Hess made his way up the ladder
of the water department quickly with
his desire to absorb everything he could
about the plant and the way it ran.
Hess was attached to the lab to learn
from the chemical engineer and teach
others how to pass the lab test to get their
operators license. He eventually went
to New Paltz to get his own operator’s
license.
“I would go around and learn how
to run the plant and I decided to take a
chance,” said Hess. “I went to a school
up there in New Paltz and took the
operators course, two nights a week for
twelve weeks. I passed that and I had my
license.”
In 1973 Hess was promoted to the title
of plant operator when his good friend,
fell, hit his head and passed away at the
plant.
“One day tragedy happened, I was
home and one of the operators died, he
fell down, hit his head and bled to death,”
said Hess. “So they asked me to come in
and take over as the operator. I started on
July 1 1973 and I was an operator for all
that time.”
Hess has seen everything over the
years working for the City and he’s loved
every second. He has seen the department
at its worst when he had to clean up a
series of violations created by the neglect
of a supervisor.
“We had to go to hearings because of a
bunch of violations,” said Hess. “Between
a few of us we started to eliminate all the
violations we were left with. I went up
to Ithaca to take a course and to White
Plains to take the second half of the
John Hess was honored recently by the city council.
course and then to New Rochelle to take
my state test. I was then the acting chief
operator. The thing I was really proud of
was eliminating all the violations we had
at the plant.”
For Hess eliminating all the violations
at the plant, which included primarily
incomplete paperwork by the previous
water superintendent was the highlight
Hess received the key to the city from
Mayor Torrance Harvey.
of his 50 year career. He lights up talking
about eliminating all the issues.
The part about his long career that
saddens him to this day are the friends
he’s lost along the way.
“The hardest part about this job is
knowing some of the people that I worked
with are not around anymore,” said Hess.
“I miss them everyday and I remember
who they were.”
Hess grew up in the City of Newburgh,
living in various buildings around the
city. He was born on Renwick Street and
even lived in the Liberty Street School for
a period of time.
“It was a great place to play,” said Hess.
“We used to play baseball against other
kids in the neighborhood, it was all such
good fun.”
Second to his love for working and
the water department, is his love for
baseball. Hess is a die hard Yankee fan, he
compared his first day as a plant operator
to a player stepping up to the plate. He
was full of excitement and nerves hoping
catastrophe wouldn’t hit on the first day
in.
Hess now works in the administrative
office for the water department, he
technically works 30 hours a week, but
that doesn’t stop him from clocking in
Continued on page 34