County announces overhaul of department roles, leaders
EAGLE — In an email sent to employees this week, interim Eagle County Manager Bryan Treu noted that his first week was “not short on action.”
The action he refers to includes elimination of the Director of Public Works position, the impending departure of the county’s engineer and several realignments within county departments. Treu himself is also part of recent management changes at the county, which included the recent retirement of manager Brent McFall. McFall had been with the county for two years.
With Treu’s move to interim county manager, Beth Oliver has been named interim county attorney. Aric Otzelberger remains in his post as deputy county manager.
“In essence, we flattened the organization a bit and eliminated positions where executive directors were unnecessarily overseeing other director-level positions,” Treu wrote in his email.
Changes listed
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The changes at the county include:
• Former Director of Public Works Clete Saunier will be leaving the county with the elimination of his position.
• Rick Ullom will be heading up a joint facilities and project management department now known as the Facilities Management Department. Ullom will also oversee solid waste and recycling as well as trails.
• Kevin Sharkey, former assistant engineer for the town of Eagle, has been hired as Eagle County Trails manager. He takes over for Ellie Caryl, who informed the county about her plans to leave the position back in December. Caryl’s final day with the county will be March 8.
According to county Director of Communications Kris Friel, Caryl gave the county long advance notice of her planned departure so she could work on details for various projects including a Great Outdoors Colorado grant for the Eagle to Horn Ranch bike trail. “Our focus on trails is shifting to construction and Kevin brings a solid project management component that will be complemented by Rick’s tutelage,” Treu said.
Eagle County Engineer Eva Wilson will be leaving the organization as of March 3. “She may continue to help us with come contracts with the Colorado Department of Transportation,” Friel said, citing Wilson’s long tenure with the county. Friel said Wilson stated a desire to “look for new challenges” in her letter of resignation. Treu said the county is finalizing a targeted replacement for county engineer. “That announcement should be made within the week,” Treu said.
Jill Klosterman will now directly report to the county manager as the housing director.
The county’s Community Development Department will now focus more closely on development services, and will consist of planning, building, GIS and code compliance. Housing and engineering will be separate departments.
“Bob Naracci has decided to take a role more focused on special projects (land use regulation amendments) and mentoring. Accordingly, we will begin searching for a Community Development director immediately,” Treu said.
Road and Bridge Director John Harris will now directly report to the county manager.
Chris Lubbers will be taking on the Fleet Department in addition to ECO Transit duties. “Fleet optimization is a priority and Chris brings the necessary energy and ideas for the task,” Treu said.
Tom Hyatt and Robbie Arndt will report directly to the deputy county manager in budget management roles. “The budget function is policy driven and needs more oversight by administration and the board of county commissioners,” Treu said.
The county’s budget operation has been separated from the Finance Department. The finance department will now be called Department of Financial Accounting with a focus on auditing, internal controls, bill paying and other day-to-day financial needs.
Job openings
In addition to the various changes, the county also continues its search for an Aviation Director and a Public and Environmental Health Director.
As for the county manager opening, Friel noted the county commissioners have not yet decided how they want to proceed with a search.