Department head changes for City of Creencastle

With a desire to become more proactive as a city and address issues before they become emergencies, Greencastle Mayor Lynda Dunbar has made some changes to several city departments within city hall. 

One such change is in the Planning Department where former City Planner Scott Zimmerman has become the Assistant Planner and Greencastle has hired Blaine Rout to be the City Planner. Rout is no stranger to Greencastle, having grown up in Putnam County and had previously served as the assistant planner for Danville. 

The move will help bolster one area Dunbar said she was "focusing on."

"The Planning Department has always been that department that I felt like was the "step child" of the city. We had to have it, but there was so much work and so many things that needed to be accomplished that was the planner's responsibility. The City Council added some money during this budget cycle to really beef up that office," Dunbar told The Putnam County Post and GIANT fm WREB.

Dunbar said with the change in leadership, there will be several things taking place shortly that residents will be able to see. 

"You will see more enforcement. We have some blighted buildings in the community and it takes months and lots of paperwork to address these buildings. There is such a process you have to go through. We have stormwater and so many things added to the planner's plate that it truly was more work for just one person and we haven't been able to do other things that need planned out," Dunbar said. 

The change in leadership comes at a time when Greencastle officials are working on the town's comprehensive plan for the future and trying to determine what Greencastle will look like in terms of development and future growth. Dunbar said it is "business as usual" on the plan despite the changes. 

"We are still in the beginning stages of the comprehensive plan and starting to get into the meat and potatoes. It is a good time for him to come in and be a part of that," Dunbar said. 

In addition, there will be changes when it comes to Greeencastle's Water and Wastewater departments. 

Dunbar said the city has hired Rick Denney to serve as the new Water Superintendent, and he is set to start mid April. As a result, Oscar King Jr. will serve as director of the Wastewater Department. Denney comes to Greencastle from Greensburg, where he has served as utility superintendent for over two decades, while King oversaw both the water and wastewater as superintendent since 2016. 

"There are more reports for IDEM, more paperwork, and more responsibility that it was just too much for one person to handle," Dunbar said of the change. "It has always been one utility. During the 231 project, it came to light that we have a lot of infrastructure needs and we have ignored them until they reared their ugly head. The board of works and I decided now is the time to split it up into two departments. We are really excited and will get proactive on improvements for the water department."

Dunbar said she is "really excited" about the changes. 

"We are really excited. I think part of it is we are able to hire some very qualified people and we offer some good, competitive salaries and have come a long way for that," Dunbar said.