Maintenance man Brian O'Neill is Person of the Year

By Ginny Privitar
CHESTER — Happiness is a well-maintained homestead.
Thanks to a maintenance supervisor recently honored with a statewide award, the Green Meadows apartment complex in Chester keeps its residents happy by providing great upkeep, inside and out.
"We try to keep it that way," said Brian O'Neill, maintenance supervisor at Green Meadows. "We take pride in our properties. We like to keep them nice, and then people do so, too. We have great tenants."
O'Neill actually works for Community Services Program, headquartered in Wappingers Falls. The agency receives funding from several government programs, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Agency, to provide low-income apartment housing and maintenance at its complexes. Community Services nominated O'Neill for the 2017 New York Multiple Family Housing Maintenance Person of the Year Award — and he won.
On Monday, Mike Bosak, director of the USDA Multi-family Housing Program, presented O'Neill with his award.
Lawn care and snow removal at Green Meadows are performed by outside contractors. But all the usual repairs are done by O'Neill, who's been working for Community Services for eight years.
"Basically I oversee and correct any problems that occur on the property," he said. "Most stuff we try to fix in-house. Occasionally I have to call in outside contractors for help."
He likes his job a lot.
"I have a variety of things — every day brings me something new, and I never know what it will bring," he said. "I make plans and you never know, you have to prioritize as things come along."
When he's not fixing things, he enjoys camping and woodworking. He has done it all.
"Lately all I do is mow the lawn" — at his own house, he said.
Much of his off-time is spent helping others, including his daughter, who recently bought a house, and another family member with health issues.
He learned woodworking and framing years ago. He said it came easily to him. He learned about some electrical work from his father. But many of his skills, including plumbing, he learned on his own.
O'Neill spent 20 years self-employed as an all-around handyman doing home repairs, vinyl siding, decks, and kitchen and bath remodeling.
He believes in repurposing items. He knew someone who was getting rid of three acres of oak fencing. He took all the boards, planed them, carved tongues and grooves on them, and then used them for flooring the log home he built himself in Rhinebeck. Doors, floors, tiling — he did it all himself to make the project affordable.
It was "a hard, long project but the rewards are just amazing," he said.
He's refinished old furniture, made picture frames, whatever comes to mind.
Chances are, he gives his best to everything he does.