Sunapee water and sewer office closes June 3 for staff training

Sunapee residents could not handle in-person water and sewer business at the Sunapee Water and Sewer Office on Wednesday, June 3, because the office was closed for staff training. The town said water and sewer bill payments still could be left in the drop box during the shutdown, limiting the risk of missed payments while the public counter was unavailable.

The notice, posted on the town website June 2, was brief but practical: anyone needing help with billing, account questions, or other office transactions had to wait until normal operations resumed after the one-day closure. The office at 23 Edgemont Road did not offer a full public counter that day, and the town used the drop box to keep routine payments moving even as staff stepped away from the desk.

The closure also pointed to how much Sunapee relies on a small, experienced water and sewer staff. The department’s staff page lists David Bailey as superintendent, a role he has held since 2004 after joining the department in 1998, and Holly Leonard as office manager, a position she has held since 2001. The page also lists Theodore Gallup, Douglas Gamsby, Charles Hirshberg, Jeffrey Reed, Wayne Stoddard, Dana Whipple, and David Bjorkland, underscoring that the department depends on a compact team that handles both technical operations and customer service.

Several employees hold state operator licenses across water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment, which helps explain why a training day matters beyond the office counter. In a department that must manage billing, public inquiries, and utility systems at the same time, training can improve accuracy, consistency, and response time for ratepayers. The Sunapee Water & Sewer Commission meets the last Thursday of each month, giving the department a regular local oversight forum as it works through those responsibilities.

Sunapee has also used advance notices for other schedule changes. In 2024, the town posted a separate office closure for Independence Day, saying town offices would be closed July 4 and July 5 and that regular hours would resume July 8. The June 3 water and sewer closure fit that same pattern: short, specific, and designed to keep residents from being caught off guard.