Fred Doggett retires after 41 years of service to City of Washington

WASHINGTON - After 41 years of service with the City of Washington, Fred Doggett, the Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, has retired.

Doggett's last day was Friday, Dec. 27 where he donned the bright yellow T-shirt that makes up his uniform for the last time. A Washington native, Doggett started working for the city in 1978 with the street department before moving to the wast water treatment plant in 1985. After five years he was promoted to superintendent and has held that title for the last 29 years.

As the superintendent, Doggett's job includes overseeing daily operations, preparing budgets and ensuring there is enough staff. As of the years have gone by, big changes have come to the plant, he said.

Doggett said the biggest change he has seen has been the use of technology. It really made its mark on him in 2012 when the city opened the new plant.

'The old plant was built in 1956 and when I first started everything was hands on and you had to manually do it. This plant was built in 2012 and it's all computers,” he said.

Doggett said that transition was difficult to get used to, but the younger staff members stepped up to take care of things and keep the plant running smoothly. The plant is also home to the city's dog pound making Doggett the resident dogcatcher as well.

He said when he first started working for the department, it was understood the new person would need to be the dogcatcher. Being a dog guy himself, it was no problem and a job he took on readily. Now, he is looking to pass that job on to the next man as he looks forward to retirement.

'It's been a good steady job and I've liked it. I've worked with some good people and that's probably what I'm going to miss the most about it is the people,” he said.

Doggett said his wife works as a recruiter for the University of Iowa and is looking forward to spending time traveling the state with her. Once she retires, the pair plan to see their grandkids more often and take some time for the two of them, traveling the US together.

'We like the water so we'll be on a beach somewhere,” he said.