New City Engineer Plans To Be Around A Long Time
May 26, 2022 at 10:15 p.m.
New City Engineer Plans To Be Around A Long Time
By David [email protected]
“It’s my plan to make this a long-term position. I hope to be here for a long time and look forward to getting to know all the different people that help to make this community what it is and work to improve the community in various ways and get involved with other things as I’m here a little bit more,” he said during an interview in his office at City Hall Wednesday.
Originally from Logansport, Ott graduated from Logansport High School in 1997. He then went to Purdue University to study engineering, graduating in 2002. From there, he started his career in the civil engineering industry.
He landed his first post-college job in Indianapolis at Transportation Consulting Engineers, starting at the bottom as the guy who did the detail work on projects.
“It was a great first experience. I worked for them for two years, and then had an opportunity to relocate to the Fort Wayne area for a promotion job as my career was expanding and came over here to take a junior engineer position, per se,” Ott said.
Now he’s at the 20-year mark of his career.
For the majority of his background, he said transportation was the emphasis of what he did. Over the past five to 10 years, his career expanded more into sewer, water infrastructure and encompassing more of the civil field, mostly around municipal infrastructure.
Before coming to the city of Warsaw, Ott said he wasn’t really looking for a job. He was content, with his last job being the director of the surveying department at Apex Consulting & Surveying. It was a job he loved.
“But, when I learned that (city engineer) James (Emans) was going to retire, and I was in talks with (Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director) Jeremy (Skinner) and the mayor, and learned more about the position, it really opened up my interest to it,” Ott said.
When he worked with a previous company, he said he had done consulting work for the city and “really just knew there was something special about how the city was growing and really focusing on improving the quality of life around here. A lot of the orthopedic industry stuff was what was driving that. I thought they had a pretty good foundation here with Mayor Joe (Thallemer) and what was before him and felt like it’s a position that I think, for the longevity, could be a very enjoyable, good fit for me.”
His official first day on the job for the city was Feb. 28. He and Emans only overlapped a week.
“James shared, what has proven to be true, is that the job is never dull or boring. There’s always something new. It’s not routine and just going through the motions. There’s always some kind of a new problem or a new concern arise, needs attention, and there’s always something that needs done. You’re never bored or dull,” Ott recalled.
The city already had a number of infrastructure projects going on or starting that Ott got thrown into when he started, including bidding out the demolition of the former Arnolt Corp. building on Durbin Street. Bids came in from around $178,000 to $370,000.
“A very large industrial demolition,” Ott said. “I’ve not had to do demolition contracts in the past so that was a new experience for me. And right now we’re working to secure bids for material pricing for just our common asphalt work. We’re also looking to bid for a pavilion renovation over at Center Lake. These are all projects that are different and very interesting to me because they aren’t just a roadway with sewers. I’ve seen road improvements and sewer jobs all the time, and those are pretty common, but these others are intriguing because they’re not stuff that I’ve done.”
Ott said his job requires him to do research and learn new things constantly, which he finds very enjoyable.
“That would be part of one of the differences between what I was doing in the past. It was a lot of the routine at the other job. You get a project and you scope it and you design it and it goes to construction. They were a lot of common roadway and sewer and water main jobs,” he said.
The fact that Warsaw has its own paving equipment and crew is unique to Ott, but he thinks that’s a huge asset that the city has going for it.
Another interesting thing about his job that he likes is that part of his role is to be the guy that knows what’s going on in all the different city departments and help bring everyone together when there needs to be more collaboration and communication.
“One of the worst things a city, any city, can do is improve your road and then very soon after that have to cut it open and do a sewer or an underground fix of something. Those are common things that sometimes, just a little bit better communication and all that can, avoid that kind of thing. That’s part of one of my jobs, is to make sure public works knows what utilities has got going on and vice versa - we’re not doing things in a vacuum as individual departments,” Ott said.
He added that all the city departments have great leaders and there’s a really good culture and collaborative attitude going on, which is a relief to see, because other communities he’s worked for as a consulting engineer didn’t have that.
“Warsaw, I think, is recognizing the importance of that. They’re not a small city any longer,” Ott said.
He’s still observing the different processes and procedures in the city, but he has some ideas he’d like to eventually suggest or implement.
“I don’t want to be too quick to try and suggest things until I’ve gathered a little more information on that. But I definitely am a guy who isn’t just going to sit back and relax. I’m all for trying to find ways we can be more efficient with what we do and make the job enjoyable for everybody at the same time,” he said.
As for goals, Ott said, “There is a goal that we want to expand, hire an assistant engineer later this year and divvy up the duties.”
He said one of his challenges right now is “prioritizing properly and trying to figure out how to accomplish everything I need to because there is more to accomplish than there is time. I’m still adjusting to a different pace than where I came from - you work until whenever to get the job done - and I think it’s a little different of an expectation on this side, but things still have deadlines, things still have to get done at some point.”
When he’s not on the job, Ott has two daughters who he spends a lot of time with at their extracurricular activities, including swim and dance teams. He likes fishing and he’s a sports “nut,” mostly football.
“But anything Purdue, I’m a Purdue sports fanatic. I love to try to go to their football games,” he said.
Ott hasn’t moved to Warsaw yet, but he is hoping to as soon as he finds the right house.
“It’s my plan to make this a long-term position. I hope to be here for a long time and look forward to getting to know all the different people that help to make this community what it is and work to improve the community in various ways and get involved with other things as I’m here a little bit more,” he said during an interview in his office at City Hall Wednesday.
Originally from Logansport, Ott graduated from Logansport High School in 1997. He then went to Purdue University to study engineering, graduating in 2002. From there, he started his career in the civil engineering industry.
He landed his first post-college job in Indianapolis at Transportation Consulting Engineers, starting at the bottom as the guy who did the detail work on projects.
“It was a great first experience. I worked for them for two years, and then had an opportunity to relocate to the Fort Wayne area for a promotion job as my career was expanding and came over here to take a junior engineer position, per se,” Ott said.
Now he’s at the 20-year mark of his career.
For the majority of his background, he said transportation was the emphasis of what he did. Over the past five to 10 years, his career expanded more into sewer, water infrastructure and encompassing more of the civil field, mostly around municipal infrastructure.
Before coming to the city of Warsaw, Ott said he wasn’t really looking for a job. He was content, with his last job being the director of the surveying department at Apex Consulting & Surveying. It was a job he loved.
“But, when I learned that (city engineer) James (Emans) was going to retire, and I was in talks with (Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director) Jeremy (Skinner) and the mayor, and learned more about the position, it really opened up my interest to it,” Ott said.
When he worked with a previous company, he said he had done consulting work for the city and “really just knew there was something special about how the city was growing and really focusing on improving the quality of life around here. A lot of the orthopedic industry stuff was what was driving that. I thought they had a pretty good foundation here with Mayor Joe (Thallemer) and what was before him and felt like it’s a position that I think, for the longevity, could be a very enjoyable, good fit for me.”
His official first day on the job for the city was Feb. 28. He and Emans only overlapped a week.
“James shared, what has proven to be true, is that the job is never dull or boring. There’s always something new. It’s not routine and just going through the motions. There’s always some kind of a new problem or a new concern arise, needs attention, and there’s always something that needs done. You’re never bored or dull,” Ott recalled.
The city already had a number of infrastructure projects going on or starting that Ott got thrown into when he started, including bidding out the demolition of the former Arnolt Corp. building on Durbin Street. Bids came in from around $178,000 to $370,000.
“A very large industrial demolition,” Ott said. “I’ve not had to do demolition contracts in the past so that was a new experience for me. And right now we’re working to secure bids for material pricing for just our common asphalt work. We’re also looking to bid for a pavilion renovation over at Center Lake. These are all projects that are different and very interesting to me because they aren’t just a roadway with sewers. I’ve seen road improvements and sewer jobs all the time, and those are pretty common, but these others are intriguing because they’re not stuff that I’ve done.”
Ott said his job requires him to do research and learn new things constantly, which he finds very enjoyable.
“That would be part of one of the differences between what I was doing in the past. It was a lot of the routine at the other job. You get a project and you scope it and you design it and it goes to construction. They were a lot of common roadway and sewer and water main jobs,” he said.
The fact that Warsaw has its own paving equipment and crew is unique to Ott, but he thinks that’s a huge asset that the city has going for it.
Another interesting thing about his job that he likes is that part of his role is to be the guy that knows what’s going on in all the different city departments and help bring everyone together when there needs to be more collaboration and communication.
“One of the worst things a city, any city, can do is improve your road and then very soon after that have to cut it open and do a sewer or an underground fix of something. Those are common things that sometimes, just a little bit better communication and all that can, avoid that kind of thing. That’s part of one of my jobs, is to make sure public works knows what utilities has got going on and vice versa - we’re not doing things in a vacuum as individual departments,” Ott said.
He added that all the city departments have great leaders and there’s a really good culture and collaborative attitude going on, which is a relief to see, because other communities he’s worked for as a consulting engineer didn’t have that.
“Warsaw, I think, is recognizing the importance of that. They’re not a small city any longer,” Ott said.
He’s still observing the different processes and procedures in the city, but he has some ideas he’d like to eventually suggest or implement.
“I don’t want to be too quick to try and suggest things until I’ve gathered a little more information on that. But I definitely am a guy who isn’t just going to sit back and relax. I’m all for trying to find ways we can be more efficient with what we do and make the job enjoyable for everybody at the same time,” he said.
As for goals, Ott said, “There is a goal that we want to expand, hire an assistant engineer later this year and divvy up the duties.”
He said one of his challenges right now is “prioritizing properly and trying to figure out how to accomplish everything I need to because there is more to accomplish than there is time. I’m still adjusting to a different pace than where I came from - you work until whenever to get the job done - and I think it’s a little different of an expectation on this side, but things still have deadlines, things still have to get done at some point.”
When he’s not on the job, Ott has two daughters who he spends a lot of time with at their extracurricular activities, including swim and dance teams. He likes fishing and he’s a sports “nut,” mostly football.
“But anything Purdue, I’m a Purdue sports fanatic. I love to try to go to their football games,” he said.
Ott hasn’t moved to Warsaw yet, but he is hoping to as soon as he finds the right house.
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