At the end of Monday night’s City Council meeting, City Administrator Chris White dedicated his allotted Reports time to commemorate Amalio Lombardi, the forman who was accidentally killed at the construction site on Rte 52 during excavation of the road for the City’s water main project. The day of the accident, Mayor Lee Kyriacou ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for the week. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Lee honored Amalio with a moment of silence.

A bench with a plaque and seating area will be installed at the site of the tragedy with a ceremony possibly in the spring, the City Administrator said.

Mid-way through his speech, City Administrator Chris’ emotions overcame him, causing him to pause as he regained himself before proceeding. His speech has been republished in full below. Video of the speech is also published below.

I dispense with my Report this week so I can briefly honor and remember Amalio Lombardi, a man who died in a tragic construction accident last Monday while working on the city's water main project on Fishkill Avenue.

The City extends our deepest condolences to Amalio's family, friends, and his co-workers, some of whom he worked with for decades. Our staff join in mourning this terrible loss as reflected by the City flags being placed at half-staff last week by order of the Mayor.

Amalio Lombardi was a Foreman for Sunup Construction Corp. a local contractor who is currently replacing water and sewer mains on Fishiskll Avenue. That company and he have done extensive work throughout the City.

Amalio was a 40-year union member of Laborers Local 17 and he was described by a longtime head of 17 as a model employee and a union member. And moreover a good guy. That's a compliment that you hear repeatedly from all who knew him. Amalio had worked on Capital Projects in the City of Beacon for decades including water, sewer, storm water and sidewalk projects. He was well known to our staff and our engineer and he was universally liked.

(pauses)

Amalio was highly respected for his skill and knowledge as a tradesman. He expected his crews to do quality work and he refused to cut corners. He was never harsh or rude to his crews. He took pride in his work and he even brought his family to the City of Beacon to see projects he had worked on including Fishkill Avenue.

Amalio was close to retirement and had certainly considered it, but he had never filed for it because he enjoyed working and spending time with his co-workers. Amalio was a true craftsman, an expert in repairing and replacing the pipes that are so vital to our drinking water supply and disposal of waste water. People who knew him cited that he was dependable, hardworking, conscientious, energetic, and committed to getting the job done right.

It wasn't surprising to hear that Amalio came to work on Saturday, two days before the incident, to make emergency repairs to the water main alongside our dedicated staff. And it wasn't surprising that some of Amalio's crew the day of the incident insisted on staying at the work site to fill in the large trench in the road despite their trauma*. Because that's what Amalia would have done.

Our staff and consultants enjoyed working aside am Amalio on countless projects because of his positivity, his generous smile and his warm personality. Sometimes the new staff who were introduced to him didn't hear his name correctly and they heard it as Mario and they just called him Mario. And he never took offense to that and he never corrected them. If someone he was working with m said they had a maintenance issue at their house or they had another issue, he was always first to offer assistance without thought of payment.

I joined a number of department heads, our city engineer and most of the water department who worked closely with Amalio over the years and going to go last week to pay respects to his family. Amalio was a devoted and loving husband and father and he spoke often of his family. He was so genuinely proud of his three grown children, the youngest of whom is attending Clarkson University to become an engineer. And I'm sure he was proud of that as the guy who was working with engineers.

All of us wish that we could lessen the pain of this incredible loss for Amalio's family, friends, and co-workers. And while time will hopefully soften that sense of loss, the City of Beacon honors and remembers Amalio for his contributions to our community over the last decades.

The City will be installing a memorial bench seating area along Fishkill Avenue with a plaque commemorating this wonderful person, this good guy who humbly and quietly helped to keep our city running while always offering a smile and a kind word in the process. We look forward to dedicating that memorial to Amalio with his family and friends perhaps in the spring.

And finally, I would be remiss tonight if I didn't take a moment to thank and recognize our dedicated first responders and other City department heads and staff who we responded to and managed this difficult and traumatic event. Residents of this city should be very proud of the response by our staff in the face of this tragic accident. And it was handled with professionalism, skill, and respect.

Thank you.

*Chris White verified that his pronunciation of “drama” intended to be “trauma.” That edit has been made.