To the Editor:

The Village of Potsdam is losing one of its best.

Sometimes an offer is just too good to turn down, and so it is with Bob Henninger who is leaving the Village of Potsdam to take a job with the Development Authority of New York. Bob has been Potsdam’s chief water/wastewater/hydro plant operator for 16 years.

I worked with him for nearly 12 years, and to say that Bob will be hard to replace is an understatement. Bob has the qualities that every employer wants in an employee. First and foremost, he knows a tremendous amount of technical and theoretical material about the plants. He also has the hands on skills and isn’t afraid to jump in and get his hands dirty.

When it comes to working with people, Bob is tops. He gets along with everyone and has probably forgotten more people skills than most of us will ever acquire. He considers teamwork to be a vital part of every successful organization. Bob’s fellow management staff could always rely on Bob to lend a thoughtful ear as well as additional time and research to help solve their problems. As part of his teamwork approach, Bob never has a negative word to say about anyone or anything.

Despite his abilities, Bob never seeks out personal recognition. Just this year, he was recognized and honored by the New York Rural Water Association as the 2016 Wastewater Operation Specialist of the Year. He also works tirelessly with the water plant operators at producing top quality drinking water in the Village. This year, the village’s drinking water was selected as the best water in the county by over 40 randomly selected taste testers.

Bob is so proud of the work he and his co-workers do and never fails to take the opportunity to let people know. n fact, Bob is well known at the restaurants in Potsdam for his beverage order with meals when he specifically requests a glass of wonderful Potsdam water! His request always gets a laugh…but he truly means it…it is no joke to him.

What I most admire about Bob is his “can-do” attitude. Someone once said that there are two types of people...one type walks into a room and sees nothing to do; the other walks into the same room at the same time and finds lots of work to do, people to get to know, and ways to make things better. Bob is the latter type.

Bob is also respectful of those who serve the country. Having been in many public venues with Bob, he never fails to notice service men and women and make it a point to go up, introduce himself, and thank them for their service.

I am confident that his new job will top off over 30 years of public service to his country and to the communities he has served. Hats off to you Bob. May our lines cross again soon.

Michael Weil

Former Village of Potsdam administrator