McKelvey Public Works head 31 years; 37+ overall
Town of Farragut has had a changing of the guard in its Public Works department, with long-time director Bud McKelvey, 65, stepping aside in October after 37 1/2 years of service to the Town, 31 as director.
In addition to leading the Town’s emergency relief efforts concerning issues such as storm damage clean-up, McKelvey has led a department most noticable, perhaps, for its highly regarded work in putting up all “Light the Park” holiday lighting in Founders Park at Campbell Station, Ralph McGill Plaza and elsewhere.
Now serving the Town as senior facilities project manager, overseeing the interior renovations of Town Hall and work on Campbell Station Inn’s interior until his retirement in April, McKelvey will be trading in his orange vest for a fishing pole.
“So I can have some fun and while I’m at an age I can still go and do things and enjoy whatever I decide to do,” he said.“Really, I want to go fishing a bunch. Competitive fishing is a passion I have, and I’ve had it forever.”
McKelvey also will be spending more time with his wife, Faye, his daughter, Lindsey Case, her husband, Dylan, and their children, Camden, 11, and Peyton, 9, as well as Faye’s other children, Justin Sims, his wife, Katie, and their children, Sadler, 13, and Presley, 11.
“It’s been a great opportunity for me,” he said about working for the Town. “Every day that I came to work presented new challenges. It was never boring. I can’t think of a day that I dreaded coming to work.
“You meet lots of people, get to interact with the citizens,” McKelvey added. “I’ve worked for four mayors and three Town administrators.
“I’m going to miss the people that I’ve worked with.”
McKelvey, the seventh full-time employee hired by the Town, started work as a codes enforcement officer on June 1, 1987 when he was 28.
Starting with only two Public Works crew, “I did codes and I helped oversee contractors because we contracted out everything — mowing, weed-eating, backhoe work, pipework, snow removal — and helped give the guys their assignments,” he said.
“It was new,” McKelvey added about the Town. “I came from U.S. Borax Mineral Exploration Company, drawing geographic maps, and had spent my early years building and remodeling houses, so I had a lot of experience in construction.
“Then, when I came to the Town, I got certified in many phases of codes enforcement. I was there when we hired the first two employees. I was actually in the interviews.”
In 1993, then Town administrator Jack Hamlett asked McKelvey if he wanted to stay in codes or go to Public Works, so McKelvey went permanently into Public Works and became its director.
“But, we lost codes officers, so I had to go back and do codes again,” he said. “We wore many hats back in the day. Whatever needed to be done, we pitched in.”
