Norco public works director Richard Young stepping down

Northampton County Executive John Brown will have to fill a vacancy in his cabinet after Director of Public Works Richard Young tendered his resignation this week.

Young will have served just over a year on the job when he steps down next Friday. In that time, he began a presentative maintenance program at the Human Services building in Bethlehem Township, oversaw construction on dozens of bridges and began repairs on the Louise Moore Pine farmhouse, among other projects.

One of his first acts in office was repairing a broken generator at Gracedale for $3,000. Young estimated the county wasted about $50,000 by leasing the replacement for 18 months instead of fixing it.

"He did a good job here. I wish him well," Brown said Thursday.

Brown said the county will seek out internal and external candidates to replace Young, who made $95,921 in his first year.

Young said Friday a personal matter led him to reassess his career path, and he found he wanted to do less administrative work.

During his six-and-a-half years as Allentown's director of public works, he split his duties between engineering and running the department, but his time at Northampton County was spent mostly overseeing other engineers and tending to paperwork, he said.

"The higher up you go in engineering, the less engineering you do," he said.

Young, 60, will start working for T&M Associates in Bethlehem as a principal engineer at the end of the month, he said.

Although county politics have grown more combative in the past year, Young enjoyed wide support from both sides of the political aisle.

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Norco public works director Richard Young stepping down