City engineer resigns; Prairie Engineers will serve as interim

[July 25, 2012]  After 13 years in the city of Lincoln, it was announced Tuesday night that city engineer Mark Mathon will leave his post effective immediately.

Mathon has been hired as the assistant engineer for DeWitt County.

Mathon came to the city of Lincoln in early 2000 as an employee of Environmental Management Corp., now owned by American Water.

The city had a contract with EMC for the services of an engineer as well as for the management of the city's wastewater treatment facility.

Tuesday evening, David Kitzmiller of American Water/EMC was on hand and announced that Mathon would be leaving. He said he wanted to thank Mathon for his dedication to his job and the city. He said he hated to see him leave but was happy for the new opportunity Mathon was getting and wished him well.

Mathon said he wanted to say thanks to everyone in the city. He noted with some emotion that for him, being a part of the city of Lincoln was more than having a job. It had meant many friendships that were important.

Around the council chambers, many of the aldermen and city officials also conveyed their gratitude and well wishes.

Jonie Tibbs recalled some of the things she had done as the chair of the building and grounds committee, thanks to Mathon's help. She said it wasn't about her, but all about him, in that she got to do many things that a lot of women don't usually do. She noted that perhaps being the chair of this committee wasn't exactly a woman's job, but Mathon had made it possible.

Susan Gehlbach, city clerk, said she, too, would miss Mathon. She said they had been through a great deal together over the 13 years.

Tracy Jackson of the street department and Chuck Conzo, city treasurer, also expressed their appreciation for Mathon's help in various areas over the years.

Moving on, Kitzmiller said that American Water did not have an engineer to replace Mathon, but they could hire one. However, it had also been discussed quite some time ago that the city might not want to have American Water provide an engineer.

Buzz Busby said he wanted to put on the agenda an amendment that would terminate the engineer from the contract with American Water. That will be voted on at the Aug. 6 meeting.

In the meantime, Mathon is already employed by DeWitt County, and an interim engineer is needed. Mayor Keith Snyder said when this came up, it seemed only logical to walk across the street to Prairie Engineers.

Prairie Engineers has agreed to serve in an interim capacity until the council reaches a decision on what to do with the American Water contract.

As the interim engineers for the city, Lisa Kramer, Darren Forgy and Matthew Miller were on hand Tuesday night to open bids for city infrastructure work to be done this summer and fall.

For the Lincoln Avenue reconstruction project, which will include work on Lincoln Avenue from College to Logan, three bids were opened.

Three bidders were interested in doing the demolition of the Oglesby Avenue bridge, and five businesses bid for the opportunity to do bridge work on Palmer Avenue, State Street and Jefferson Street.

Forgy and Kramer opened the bids and read them to the council. They said they would take the bids back to their office and review them for compliance to the specifications and return a recommendation at the first voting session in August.

After the meeting, several wished Mathon well in his future position. He said he is not leaving Lincoln for the new job. He said he and his family are very well settled in the area and enjoy their home, and they intend to stay in the area for years to come.

[By NILA SMITH]