City Manager Mike Herr announced Monday, March 9, that Michael Schenk has been chosen as the new permanent city engineer, following former city engineer Brett Gocka’s termination in December.
“Mr. Schenk has both public and private sector experience,” Herr said. “He has a lot of experience doing engineering work with utilities, and also the review and development of site plans.”
Herr said it is also valuable that Schenk owned an engineering firm, M.A. Schenk and Associates Inc., for about 10 years.
Schenk is currently the director of utility engineering for JSK Consulting, where he has been employed since April 2014.
Schenk holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from University of Central Florida. He is registered as a professional engineer in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, and he is a certified stormwater inspector.
In recent years, Schenk served as the director of utility engineering for ECON, a firm based in Lakeland that has served clients such as LEGOLAND, USF Polytechnic, Watson Clinic and a number of municipalities in central Florida. At that time, Herr was also at ECON, serving as president.
There were 59 candidates for the City of Plant City engineer. The selection committee interviewed nine of the candidates, and then narrowed it down to two. An assistant city engineer has not been chosen yet, but interviews were conducted this week.
David Buyens, who has been working as the interim project manager for the engineering department, did not wish to apply for the permanent position. He has worked at Chastain Skillman Inc. for 23 years and is loyal to the company.
“With looking at having maybe three years left of my career, it just didn’t make sense,” Buyens said.
Herr and other city employees had made it clear to Buyens that they were pleased with his work in Plant City and would have liked him to apply.
“If we’re going to recognize people in the future, there ought to be a David Buyens Award for what it means to be a top-notch engineer, and I mean that sincerely,” Herr said.
Schenk will start Monday, March 16, with an annual salary of $90,000.
In Other News
• The city will be hosting “Plant City Right Now,” an event to introduce the city’s strategic sites for job creation, this May. Invitees will be real estate agents and other people who are interested in developing Plant City. Guest speakers will include CEOs of local agribusinesses.
• Donna Smith has been appointed to the Plant City Housing Authority Board.
• Mayor Rick Lott presented a proclamation to Patricia Carr, president of Plant City Toastmasters, declaring April 2015 as Toastmasters International Month in Plant City.