Mayor: Beshara to Retire After 40 Years as Engineer

After four decades as a professional engineer, City Engineer Robert Beshara will be retiring this year, according to a letter from Mayor Rob Dolan to the Melrose Board of Aldermen. 

Dolan said that he was informed by Beshara that he will be retiring in March. Beshara previously served as the city's director of public works and currently works as a city engineer.

"...Bob will go down as one of the great DPW directors and engineers in the history of Melrose," wrote Dolan. "He took on 100-year-old problems that most thought could never be solved and had resigned themselves to putting up with as part of living in Melrose. He inherited a DPW in which fire protection was a constant question mark. Our infrastructure was rotting, and we were losing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year. He not only rebuilt the department but he transformed it again and again, both operationally and financially, to benefit the city.

"He changed Melrose, permanently and for the better, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude."

While the dates were not immediately available, Dolan said there will be events in the future to recognize Beshara for his work in the community.

"I want to let you know that DPW director John Scenna and I are thankful for all that Bob has been able to offer our community. We wish him many years of health and happiness in the future...regardless of the weather," wrote Dolan.