By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Michael West, the town’s parks superintendent since last October, has a favorite phrase he uses when referring to his job: 

“We have a lot of land to cover.”

West, a veteran grounds and facilities manager, isn’t kidding. In a tally book he catalogues the hundreds of acres of town property and each public facility that he and his staff manage.

West and his staff of 10 employees and four seasonal workers maintain and supervise 14 athletic facilities, 31 parks, four beaches, three cemeteries, 22 Adopt-A-Spots, 17 other miscellaneous properties and a trash route emptying over 100 cans.

“We have a lot of different focuses … our guys work really hard,” he said.

A passion for working outdoors

The parks superintendent said he loves what he’s doing, despite the large portfolio he manages. He has a passion, he said, for working outdoors, and what he calls “manicuring property.” And he has the education and experience to handle all of it, from supervising the planting and maintenance of flower gardens to taking on a project to level an athletic field so baseball players don’t get hurt.

West has an associate’s degree in turfgrass management and a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was the assistant superintendent at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield for five years; the grounds manager at King School, a private school in Stamford, for five years, and manager of planning and standards for Yale University’s landscape and grounds management department, also for five years. 

The salary for his parks job in Westport is listed in the town’s budget for 2020-21 as $95,000.

West said he was excited about taking the re-instated job of parks superintendent because “Westport wants quality.” 

Diverse parks portfolio presents challenges

His position offers a lot of different problems to solve, such as managing school athletic fields, some with artificial surfaces, some with natural, and project work such as a current project to level the baseball field at Staples High School, which he called improving the field topography.

“I know the work because I’ve done it all; I enjoy it all,” he said.

 “We are thrilled to have Mike as part of our team,” said Jennifer Fava, West’s supervisor as the director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department. “His qualifications and experience are exactly what we need. We are confident that he will make a positive impact on our facilities and the experiences we bring to our residents.”

No one had filled the parks superintendent in Westport for a least four or five years, according to West. And no one with his scientific background in subjects, such as macro- and micro-nutrients to maintain soil for plantings and other technical information, had been managing the town’s public properties.

West said he looks forward to applying his knowledge and experience to properties as diverse as the town’s beaches, tennis and other racquet courts, small pocket parks and the Levitt Pavilion amphitheater.

Managing his staff and the large number town properties in Westport keeps West on the go. “I do have my work cut out for me,” he said.

The Baron’s South 23-acre, open-space property is not currently under the oversight of the parks superintendent, West said, because of the divided opinions in town on how it should be used and maintained, although the Planning and Zoning Commission recently revised regulations in a bid to allow broader use of the property.

West follows the directives of the Parks and Recreation Commission and Fava, he said, who will let him know if and when that property comes under his purview.

Managing the large number of other town properties and his staff keeps West on the go. “I do have my work cut out for me,” he said.

When West isn’t overseeing town properties, he’s busy at his home in Ansonia, helping his wife, Colleen, manage their family of three young sons — five years, three years and six months old — and a small garden or two, he said.