EFUD taps veteran public works director Woodruff as interim manager

January 15, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

Leaders of Waterbury’s Edward Farrar Utility District took steps this week to prepare for the management transition when the municipal manager steps down in February. 

Waterbury Public Works Director Bill Woodruff (left) with EFUD Commission Chair Skip Flanders at the utility district’s 2025 annual meeting when Woodruff was honored for his decades of service. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

On Wednesday, the district’s board of commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Waterbury Public Works Director Bill Woodruff as interim manager starting Feb. 2, until further notice. 

The February date is the last day for Waterbury’s Municipal Manager Tom Leitz, who is resigning from his positions as Waterbury’s town manager and manager of the utility district, which runs the public water and wastewater departments in Waterbury. 

Leitz shared his decision to resign with town and utility district leaders on Jan. 5, requesting that both entities release him from contractual obligations to give two or three months’ notice. Both the town and the utility district signed a new three-year employment contract with Leitz last summer. 

The district commissioners voted unanimously not to hold Leitz to the contract provision that he give them 60 days’ notice before seeking to end the contract early. The Waterbury Select Board on Monday voted likewise regarding the 90-day notice required regarding Leitz’s town manager role. 

Leitz was hired as municipal manager in September 2022 and began working in the position at the start of 2023, succeeding former town and utility district manager Bill Shepeluk. 

The select board on Monday agreed to work with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to recruit and hire an interim town manager and to begin a process to recruit and hire for the permanent position. 

In his job as public works director, Woodruff directly oversees water and wastewater department operations, reporting to the district manager. Woodruff is a veteran Waterbury municipal staff member, having worked for 40 years for Waterbury village and town highway, water and wastewater departments.  

In addition to tapping Woodruff as interim manager going forward, commission Chair P. Howard “Skip” Flanders noted that Karen Petrovic will remain the district’s clerk and treasurer. Petrovic also was Waterbury’s town clerk and treasurer for the past several years until she stepped down from those roles on Jan. 2. Petrovic, who has taken a new job with the state of Vermont, told the utility district she would continue to fulfill her duties for her term, which ends in May. Flanders said Petrovic has also appointed Shepeluk as a deputy treasurer for the utility district, should she need assistance with those duties in the next several months. 

Another function of the utility district is that it oversees a revolving loan fund that previously was the purview of the village of Waterbury, which was dissolved in 2018. The fund provides low-interest business loans to companies doing business in Waterbury. 

The district commission on Wednesday appointed commissioner Rick Weston as the contact for the district regarding any new loan applications that are made during the time that the district has an interim manager. The application process involves review by an advisory board and approval by the EFUD commission. 

In other business, commissioner Cynthia Parks shared details of the upcoming bid process to select a contractor for a $2 million water line construction project that will expand the district’s water distribution in Waterbury Center. A request for bids should be ready to announce before the end of January, with the bid opening in February, Parks said. 

Commissioners are also looking to schedule a second public meeting focusing on land use and management of the waterworks property that’s critical to the town water supply. The commission held an informational meeting in December that covered the history of the area and regulations pertaining to the property that straddles the Waterbury-Stowe town line and extends into the state forest lands in the foothills of Mount Hunger. 

Last year, utility district officials curtailed public access to the area due to unauthorized trail-building and increased recreational use on the land – such as mountain biking, hiking, skiing and snowshoeing – that officials worry could harm water quality. The commission decided it would take a closer look into the issue of public recreational use of the vital watershed lands. District officials have set out to hold several meetings with future discussions around creating policy to address the topic. The next one will likely take place in late February or March, they said.