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Zephyrhills Utilities Chief To Retire Thursday

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By LAURA KINSLER

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

Published: January 14, 2009

ZEPHYRHILLS - When Louie Sellars came to work for the city in 1968, its utility department was anything but state-of-the-art.

There was no sewer service, and a quarter of the city's water meters didn't work.

"Some of them were 30 or 40 years old," he said. "They'd never been replaced. A meter is only designed to last 10 years."

When Sellars, 71, retires Thursday, he will leave Zephyrhills set for the future. "I was going to retire back in August, but I had a couple of projects I wanted to see through," he said.

Number one on that list was the $15 million expansion of the wastewater plant that doubled its capacity. "It'll carry us over for another 20 or 25 years," he said.

The city council unanimously voted to name the wastewater treatment plant for the longtime utility superintendent.
Sellars was born in Zephyrhills, "back when doctors still came to your home to deliver you." He had worked locally as a plumber and electrician when he agreed to the monumental task of building a wastewater department from the ground up.

"It was all new to me," he said. "I was a one-man operation."

He took over the water department in 1972 for no extra pay. At the time, the water department had 2,000 customers. Now it has more than 10,000 accounts and provides utilities and fire protection for more than 27,000 residents.
Sellars always loved his job, but one of his most rewarding utility projects came during a church mission in a remote village in West Africa. He helped install a hand pump for the village well so the villagers wouldn't have to carry buckets of water up a ladder to an elevated storage tank.

"They thought it was the greatest thing," he said. "We enjoyed it, too."
Sellars and his wife hope to return to Africa in 2010. In the meantime, he plans to hone his woodworking skills and pick up the occasional odd job.

"I've still got a plumbing license," he said. "I imagine I'll take some jobs just to keep busy. I feel great. As long you've got your health, that's the most important thing."

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 779-4617.

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