Date: Fri 21-Nov-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Frank-Krasnickas-building

Full Text:

Newtown's Full-Time Volunteer

(with photo)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Lucky for Newtown Frank Krasnickas is retired. Otherwise, there wouldn't be

enough hours in the day for him to do all he has done for the town.

The chairman of the town's Public Building & Site Committee is just one of

many residents in Newtown who volunteer their time to town government. In his

case, however, Mr Krasnickas's volunteerism has been a full-time job.

Mr Krasnickas has been the town's eyes and ears the past couple of years as

Newtown has undertaken several major municipal construction projects. He

figures he has averaged at least 30 hours of service to the town per week,

running from job site to job site ironing out one problem after another.

When he has not been sleeping, the burley Newtown resident can usually be

found at the $28-million project at Newtown High School or at the smaller job

at Hawley School. Lately, he has spent most days trying to finish the Cyrenius

Booth Library project, already six months overdue. It was Frank Krasnickas who

got the call when asbestos was discovered inside the existing library, and it

was Frank Krasnickas who had to answer questions about why the job was not

getting done.

First Selectman Bob Cascella said the town has been truly blessed to have

someone as dedicated to his work as Mr Krasnickas.

"He is an invaluable asset to the town. We couldn't afford to pay him," said

Mr Cascella. "He's on the job sites at 7 am in the morning. He gets calls from

contractors at night, and he's a volunteer."

Mr Krasnickas's number-one duty as building committee chairman is to collect

the more than 50 bills from contractors each week and submit them to the

town's finance department for payment. His job does not end there, however. In

short, he and his building-committee members are the watchdogs for the

taxpayers, making sure they get their money's worth, never paying a nickel

more than is required.

"Frank is out there everyday. All morning and all afternoon," said building

committee member Pete Samoskevich, who has also put in his share of time for

the town. He and Frank are often seen at meetings of the Board of Selectmen,

Board of Education and Legislative Council answering a barrage of questions.

"It can be a good job, but it can be a frustrating job, too," said Mr

Samoskevich. "You take a lot of flak from people sometimes."

At the high school, for example, the building committee has been responsible

for the proper spending of some $28 million but was recently queried by the

council about why $100,000 was spent for the use of dumpsters.

"If somebody in this position had a full-time job, I don't know what the hell

the town would have done," said Mr Krasnickas, a Main Street resident and

former engineer with Perkin Elmer and Norden Systems.

Mr Cascella recalls seeing Mr Krasnickas at the Grand Union this past Memorial

Day. "Here it is a holiday, but sure enough he says to me, `I was down at the

library this morning,'" Mr Cascella said. "I thought to myself, `My God, this

is sheer dedication.'"

Last week, Booth Library Director Janet Woycik spotted Mr Krasnickas sweeping

up the library's meeting room in preparation for a paint job.

"He does whatever he has to do to get the job done," she said.

Mr Krasnickas took out a cookbook from the library earlier this week because

he wanted to bake his daughter a birthday cake.

Things will be cooling down over the next month as the municipal projects all

begin to wind down. After more than 20 years on the board, the building

committee chairman said it may be time to retire.