Mayor’s report: Personnel changes abound in Eatonville

There are lots of exciting things happening around Eatonville, but I thought I would update you on a few personnel issues relating to the town.

SHARP RETIRES

Dan was first hired by Eatonville on Dec. 29, 1999. He has been supervising the electrical department for the last 13 years and has always managed to make our world a brighter place (in many ways). Dan’s last day at Eatonville will be Feb. 1. We wish Dan the best of luck in his retirement. We will miss him.

CARROLL PROMOTED TO LIGHT SUPERINTENDENT

Jesse has worked for Eatonville multiple times over the past 10 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the town. He was already employed by the town and was promoted to light superintendent due to his vast knowledge of municipal electrical systems, his problem-solving skills and his ability to positively interact with other town personnel, as well as town residents.

KISTENMACHER HIRED AS APPRENTICE

With the retirement of Dan Sharp and the promotion of Jesse Carroll, the light department needed a new electrician. As an administration, we try to provide advancement opportunities for town employees. Clay was working in our water and sewer departments but has always had the desire to be an electrician. He applied for the opening in the electrical department, and we hired him into the apprenticeship program. This program takes three to four years, and once completed, Clay will be a journeyman lineman. We have always enjoyed having Clay as part of the team and are excited about having him as a major player in our electrical department.

JUSTMAN HIRED AS NEW PATROL OFFICER

Patrol officers are not always easy to find in today’s world, especially officers who fit well with our existing team. Fortune was smiling on us when JJ accepted our offer of employment. He comes to Eatonville with wonderful experience and, more importantly, is a great fit for our police department. We are very proud of the high quality of our police officers, and JJ will fit right in.

MOORE HIRED AS TOWN PLANNER

Nick comes to town with a rather unique set of experiences that will add tremendous value to our planning department. He has a Bachelor of Science in public policy, work experience as a project manager and permit tech for MainVue Homes, a land planner for Beyler Consulting and a commercial real estate valuation analyst for Kidder Mathews.

Rather than working in a municipality, Nick has worked the other side of the table, as an individual trying to get things accomplished from the customer side of the counter. He has experienced first-hand the frustrations that come with dealing with planning departments and how those frustrations impact the timely and on-budget completion of projects. In the few weeks Nick has been here, he has shown tremendous motivation and understanding of the challenges we have ahead of us. We couldn’t be more excited about what Nick brings to the team.

THOMAS RESIGNS FROM TOWN COUNCIL 

Bob was first elected to the Town Council in January of 2016. He has always been a dedicated council member doing his research and allocating significant time to his council responsibilities. Bob quickly became known as the “tax” watchdog on the council and protected town residents from many tax increases. Bob helped to bring a fair and balanced view to council decisions, and we appreciate his many years of concern for town residents as well as his public service.

SCHAUB APPOINTED TO VACANT COUNCIL SEAT

With the resignation of Mr. Thomas, we had four very qualified citizens apply for the vacant position: Colin Stephens, Nathon Smith, Joe Hagen and former Mayor Mike Schaub. The Town Council decided to appoint Mr. Schaub to the open position. Mike comes with many years of municipal and financial experience and has administrative experience as well. We are looking forward to working with Mike as he helps to improve the town from his new council seat.

WASHINGTON AVE. UPGRADE PROJECT MOVING ALONG

Our contractor is wrapping up the sidewalks and curbing on the east side of the road over the next two weeks, and then they will be patch paving the east side of the roadway. After the asphalt patch paving and the installation of the banner pole foundation, the contractor will be able to move the two-way traffic to the east side of the road so that the reconstruction effort can begin on the west side of the road. The traffic switch is expected around the last week of January. Keep an eye on the project update information on the upper right of the town’s website for updated information on progress. The work they have done looks great so far!

The project is targeted for completion in early May (except for installation of the street light poles). Due to supply chain issues, we have to wait for delivery of the street light poles, which will be the final step in completion the project. We expect this to happen sometime in June but are dependent on the supplier’s production schedule.

GRANT NEWS

We received a $990,000 grant to fix the eroding Mashel River streambank by our sewer treatment plant. This grant keeps us from having to borrow money to fix this issue, which absolutely must be fixed. If we were forced to borrow this money, the costs of whatever loan we may have gotten would have been added to town utility rates.  Grants like this help keep our utility rates as low as possible! Thanks to Seth Boettcher for his hard work and diligence in getting this grant for the town!

David Baublits is mayor of Eatonville