BCAT News

Like the retirement announcement of famed quarterback Tom Brady, John Sanchez won’t exactly be stepping away from the game.

While retiring as the Director of the Burlington DPW, he plans to stay involved in his profession by continuing to be a member of different committees, such as the MWRA Advisory Board, New England Chapter of the American Public Works Association and the Norfolk-Bristol-Middlesex Highway Association where he served as president until November of 2022.

Sanchez received his Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Costa Rica in 1986. While attending the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for his M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering, he joined the Town of Billerica’s Engineering Department.

Although government work had not been his original goal, Billerica gave him the opportunity to experience a wide variety of projects including sewer, water, and road work.

It was these challenges that made him stay in the municipal field.

In 1992, after receiving his registration as a Professional Engineer, he was promoted to Town Engineer, and then DPW Director. He joined Burlington’s Department of Public Works in 2006, as director, after serving as DPW Director for the Town of Arlington for four years.

When he was first appointed director, and having a background in civil engineering, the first thing he wanted to put his efforts on was infrastructure, with improvements on streets and sanitary sewers being on top on his list.

Looking back in his career, he proudly talks about efficiencies introduced in the operation and maintenance of buildings, improved road conditions in Burlington, completing new facilities for the Department of Public Works and addressing water quality and supply issues in Burlington with improvements at the Mill Pond treatment plant and joining the MWRA as supplemental water supply.

Longtime DPW Operations Manager Brian White has been named the new director.