Retired director oversaw Manalapan DPW’s growth

BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

John Lewis and Hope Ingram-Lewis John Lewis and Hope Ingram-Lewis MANALAPAN – John Lewis remembers when Manalapan residents could burn their own leaves, when the winter mix for the community’s roads was salt and sand, most of the township was farmland and “everyone knew each other.”

Lewis, 58, a lifelong township resident, recently retired from his position as director of the Manalapan Department of Public Works.

He is married to Hope Ingram-Lewis, the township’s tax collector. Lewis proudly said that after being married to Hope for 15 years, they now have a “yours, mine and ours kind of thing,” sharing children and grandchildren.

In a recent interview Lewis looked back on a career with Manalapan that began when he was hired as a custodian in 1973. He said the DPW had about 10 employees at the time.

He chuckled and recalled working as a janitor in the building on Route 522 near Tennent Road that was the municipal building, courtroom and library. That building now serves as the public works headquarters.

Lewis’ janitorial duties were traded for more responsibilities when he was promoted to road foreman and then to assistant superintendent of the department. He became the director of the DPW in 1995.

Asked to remark on his favorite memories over the years of working with the developing department, Lewis said, “My most memorable events were the two major fires, at Millhurst Mills and the Englishtown Auction; the Grateful Dead concert at Raceway Park; the blizzard of 1996; and the tornado that touched down in a housing development of Union Hill Road in May 2001.”

He said he looks back with pride on the department he helped build and the township it serves noting, “Today the DPW has approximately 25 employees, the winter mix is now rock salt and calcium flakes and leaves must be recycled.”

Lewis also observed that the bar has been set higher now for all employees, whether they are management or laborers. He said the director must now be certified by the state in order to manage the department, while all employees must continue to obtain continuing education credits and must have a commercial driver’s license.

Lewis said the state now requires all employees to be educated in different aspects of public works such as the handling of chemicals, workplace safety, storm water regulations and the other environmental concerns.

Lewis said he can look back on his career with Manalapan as an enjoyable one, however, he thankfully acknowledges that it will be nice to be on the inside looking out this winter when the snow falls.

“After 35 years I can relax, sleep in during a snowstorm and enjoy my family,” he said.

The Township Committee has named Alan Spector the new director of the DPW, succeeding Lewis in that municipal position.