In his 40 years on the job, Roger Lysle has traveled every road in Kennett Township in his unofficial capacity as part of the eyes and ears of the township.
Those 73 miles of roads lead Kennett’s public works director and his crew to identify and solve problems with areas like roadways and bridges and maintain open spaces, that impact those who live and work in the township.
Lysle, who celebrated his 40th work anniversary in June, has what supervisors’ Vice Chairwoman Whitney Hoffman described as “an encyclopedic knowledge of the township” – and he and his crew use that knowledge to continually improve life in Kennett.
“He helps guide everybody in terms of what projects need to be done when,” Hoffman said. “He knows which roads have been repaved, which ones need them. He really goes out of his way for the residents on a daily basis.”
Supervisor Scudder Stevens echoed those sentiments.
“Neighbors should know that Roger always answers his telephone,” Stevens said. “If there’s something that someone is concerned about, they can call Roger. With his depth of knowledge and understanding of the township, he knows where to go and how to do it. And he will make sure that the supervisors know, and the other staff members from the manager on down have a handle on what needs to be taken care of.”
Lysle, 60, said the township residents are who he and his crew keep in mind as they go about their duties.
“The crew takes great pride in what we do and what we work for,” he said. “We treat everybody as our employer.”
It was June 17, 1981, when Lysle first became a part of the township’s road crew – and the township employees became his second family. The then-20-year-old Lysle was between jobs, and a friend who worked for Kennett mentioned the job opening to him.
The township looked quite different – it was not as developed as it is in 2021 -- and the duties of the road crew reflected that. The department had a three-bay garage, less equipment than they have today, and about four employees. In the fall, the crew would burn leaves along the shoulders of the road, and they would also dig by hand if completing certain projects
“The process at work was totally different than today,” said Lysle, who lives in New London Township but who thinks of Kennett Township as his second home. “The work was pretty much all manual labor. As progress moves in every field, everything has become high-tech now. We didn’t have a loader and we didn’t do pipework when I first came.”
In 2008, Lysle became the township’s roadmaster, serving as the liaison between the road crew and the supervisors, in charge of maintaining and inspecting roads and bridges, and working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on state roads and bridges. In 2012, his title was changed to public works director.
Lysle, who has two daughters with wife Anne Marie as well as a new granddaughter born last summer, oversees a department of four full-time (including a position they are hiring for) and one part-time employee and is seen updating the supervisors and the public on relevant projects at the bi-monthly supervisors’ meetings. He views the township departments and their employees as a family because Kennett Township relies on every department to help the community work the way it does, he said.
“It is a crucially important, vital role that the public works department performs,” Stevens said. “A great deal of what the township is all about is making the geographical space functional.”
The public works department is busy year-round, and the work often depends on the season. In the spring, Lysle explained, the department is laying the work for the summer. In the summer they focus on drainage pipes, inlet boxes, and other things. In the fall it’s time to trim the trees, and in the winter it’s snow-plowing and repairing cracks and potholes in the roads, among other things.
“We’re on pretty much every road during the daytime,” Lysle said, adding that there are 56 miles of township-owned and 17 miles of state-owned roads in Kennett Township.
That presence on the roads in the township means that the road crew can often see problems as they develop – such as cars ignoring the one-way stop sign on Kaolin Road during the Kaolin Road bridge replacement in fall 2020 – and can often help residents and visitors in need.
Lysle recalled plowing roads during a heavy blizzard one year and coming across a woman stuck in a ditch on Hillendale Road. It was a young mother, and he stopped to help dig her out. Once she was back up on the road, she took her foot off the brake, and the car slid back into the ditch. That didn’t deter Lysle, though; he kept working until she could make it home safely.
Another one of his crew was out driving another time when he came across the scene of a tree that had just fallen on a Jeep on Route 82.
“He just happened to be there,” Lysle said, adding that his crew member was the first on scene and able to help out.
Hoffman said that was typical of the department’s work ethic.
“The folks there work incredibly hard,” Hoffman said. “They are always trying to do the right thing. They care.”
Stevens recalls how one day he was coming home from Kennett Square Borough and saw a tree about 4 feet in diameter that had fallen in the township after a recent storm.
“Cars were inching by,” Stevens said, adding that when he went by it 90 minutes later, it was no longer an issue. “It had all been cut up and set along the side of the road so traffic was not impeded. It doesn’t matter what season it is … the crew takes care of it.”
Hoffman noted that Lysle often goes the extra distance for the residents in the township, such as making sure there’s water at the dog park before he leaves for the weekend. When Hoffman first started her term as a supervisor, Lysle took her around the township during a snow storm.
“Roger has a system for everything,” she said. “He’s the person I know I can call at any time for a problem.”
In June, township supervisors and staff surprised Lysle for his anniversary, throwing him a luncheon. It was an opportunity for his two families – work and home -- to come together.
“People always laugh because I say I have a home family and a work family,” Lysle said. “I’m just lucky enough to have a wife who shares me with the township.”
About Monica Fragale
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
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