In terms of service, his missions are multiple because the municipality relies on him to carry out, on a daily basis, the various upkeep of outdoor spaces and maintenance of the installations.
The days of a municipal technical agent are anything but monotonous. He intervenes over the weeks, months and seasons in all technical areas of the municipality.
Service: Fabien Gauthier, municipal employee
Depending on climatic hazards, he may be required to clean a rainwater drain, carry out masonry and earthworks, lay tiling, repair damage to the road surface, change light bulbs or repair a leak, apply a coat of stain to exterior woodwork, etc. Fabien Gauthier, the municipal employee, is in his element.
With a degree in landscaping and horticulture, he loves what he does because he most often works outdoors and in the great outdoors.
He’s the handyman
“He’s the jack of all trades. He is called upon for all the necessary interventions, both inside municipal buildings and outside spaces,” explains the deputy mayor in charge of the work.
But most of its work is carried out around the 40 km of municipal roads and buildings, where regular clearing must be done.
Indeed, these operations, beyond the aesthetic aspect and accessibility, are primarily intended to reduce the risk of vegetation fires as much as possible and to slow their spread.
Preventive clearing work
Throughout the year, in all seasons, he goes to the sites with his 4×4 flatbed vehicle loaded with equipment and carries out a drastic and systematic reduction of plant matter of all kinds, brambles, nettles, brooms.
Using a chainsaw, he clears the trunks and branches that threaten the electricity and telephone lines. He clears water passages in manholes and natural pipes, installs water cuts, prunes branches and evacuates spontaneous vegetation and natural scree which is deposited under bridges as bad weather occurs. “We must closely monitor the growth of vegetation and intervene regularly, otherwise it quickly invades spaces. I devote particular attention to it,” he confides.
Maintenance of municipal facilities
Regularly, he goes to the piauds sites, checks the water levels in the spring water collection tanks, and checks their quality and potability. If necessary, it makes the appropriate adjustments. As the village is dependent on this natural water supply, their monitoring and maintenance is vital. Cleaning, cleaning and disinfection operations can be undertaken if necessary.
At the other end of the water cycle, Fabien Gauthier goes to the wastewater treatment plant several times a week to check that it is working properly. It switches the abundance of wastewater in the settling and treatment basins in order to ensure alternation. He ensures that the ventilation chimneys are active and verifies that the pumps are functional.
In daily contact with residents
This is versatile and responsive technician work. Daily contact with the inhabitants of the village and its hamlets, hunters or cyclists, who report incidents to him, allows him to intervene as soon as possible and be efficient. Sometimes when in his free time he goes mushroom growing, he discovers future projects that he will schedule as soon as possible.
