Orono hires new public works director

Orono has hired a new public works director three months after the person who held the position for 16 years resigned.

The Orono Town Council unanimously voted to hire William Cody. He will fill the position left empty after Rob Yerxa resigned in mid-February to take a job with the Maine Municipal Association’s loss control department. Cody, who starts next month, currently works as director of facilities, maintenance and transportation for Regional School Unit 26.

Yerxa, who was hired in July 2008, oversaw construction of the Orono Public Library in 2009, a new public works facility in 2015 and a roundabout at the intersection of Rangeley Road and Park Street in 2018, among other projects.

His resignation, which came four months after the council approved the departure of longtime former manager Sophie Wilson, was the latest in a string of municipal staffers leaving the town since last fall.

Yerxa’s last day was in mid-March.

Cody was one of 15 applicants for the job, interim Town Manager Cornell Knight told the council during a meeting Monday night. He and a panel interviewed five candidates, brought back two for a second round of interviews and ultimately decided Cody was the best person for the job, he said.

Cody has spent nearly three years in his role at the local school district. He has worked as operations director for Calais Regional Hospital; director of information technology for Washington County College; and millwright at the paper mill in Baileyville, Knight said. Cody, who was in the U.S. Army, was also once a cop.