City of Elgin Public Works appoints new director

City Manager Kozal has appointed Mike Pubentz as Elgin’s public works director. “I’m thrilled to transition my role within the City and lead the public works department,” said Mike Pubentz. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with the talented and committed men and women of the department these past few years. We will continue to build upon the collaboration and innovation executed in our daily operations that the Elgin community has grown to expect.”

In his new portfolio, Pubentz will continue to provide support to City management through overseeing a variety of projects and assignments that support the day to day operations of public works. He will also provide the vision for a robust infrastructure plan that will benefit all residents and businesses. Planning, design, construction, and maintenance of rights-of-way, city properties, and parking structures are provided by the Public Works Department.

Engineering, streets, fleet services, and traffic/electrical are some of the divisions of Public Works. The City Staff as well as the consultants and contractors complete this work. Public Works has an annual budget of nearly $25 million as well as approximately 67 employees. The budget maintains over 350 lane miles and 18 bridges within the 38 square miles that make up the city of Elgin.

“During the past two years, Mike has demonstrated his exceptional capabilities in planning and directing the City’s capital programs in collaboration with staff, the city council and the community,” said City Manager Rick Kozal. “Mike brings a wealth of experience to the role and will continue managing the city’s capital projects in addition to his new duties as the public works director.”

Public Works has been operating for two years without a director. Superintendent Aaron Neal lead the department during that time. Pubentz said, “The institutional knowledge Aaron brings to operational management such as snow and ice removal, leaf collection, pavement maintenance, and our ongoing LED street light replacement program greatly compliments the public works and engineering experience I bring to the department.”