During the Waterloo City Council meeting last Tuesday night, three new job appointments were made for key city positions. 

Mayor Stan Darter noted a common theme of leadership as a defining quality of all three appointees.

Sarah Craig, who was serving as human resources coordinator, was appointed as collector/budget officer, assuming the position vacated through the retirement of longtime official Shawn Kennedy. 

Nathan Krebel, who had been subdivision and zoning administrator, was appointed to the newly created position of deputy director of public works. 

Filling Krebel’s position as zoning administrator is Roberta Rohwedder, who was serving as a building official with the city.

Krebel will remain the subdivision administrator as part of his duties, Darter said.

The city created the public works deputy director position by a narrow 4-3 council vote last February in preparation for longtime public works director Tim Birk’s retirement after 30-plus years.

The thinking by city officials in favor of this newly added position was that Birk had acquired so much knowledge in his role that with such a growing community (4,000 to 11,000 residents) in charge of its own utilities, a deputy director was warranted.

“The only person at that point in time that I thought could do that job in-house was Nathan,” Darter said. “He’s been a carpenter for many years before he came to the city.”

The deputy director of public works is appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the city council and assists the public works director “with the general management and supervision of all matters pertaining to all utilities of the city” and “be directly responsible to the director of public works for the complete and proper operation of the city’s utilities.”

JR Landeck now serves as the city’s director of public works. Landeck had shadowed Birk for a few months prior to Birk’s retirement earlier this year. 

Similarly, Krebel shadowed both Birk and Landeck in the months leading up to this appointment.

As for Rohwedder, she had been in her building officer position with the city for seven months. Prior to that, she had served as executive director of the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce after working in the banking profession. 

“When Tim left and I needed to move Nathan, rather than leave (Rohwedder) where she is, I took subdivisions and I made Nathan take that part with him,” Darter explained. “So that leaves the zoning administrator with a smaller job.”

Duties for the zoning administrator include receiving, reviewing and issuing building permits, handling excavation and sign permits, leading all zoning board of appeals and planning commission meetings, and also serving as the point of contact on annexations, among other tasks.

As for Craig, Darter touted her prior municipal experience as key to this appointment. 

Before becoming the HR director for Waterloo, Craig served as the day-to-day person for the City of Sauget.

“She was basically everything to that city,” Darter said. “She was our best option.”

The city is actively looking to hire a new HR director to fill Craig’s vacated position. 

Darter explained that these positions go to the city’s personnel committee, which along with him looks at applications received and agrees on who to interview. 

“It’s not a unilateral decision,” he said. “You have six people basically that have input into who we interview.”

Darter also stressed the fact that these positions by nature require a certain leadership quality. 

“All of the jobs at City Hall are one deep,” he said. “That person, whoever you hire, needs to be a leader. There’s no one else. You’re always looking for leadership.”   

Other council news

In other action from last Tuesday’s meeting, aldermen approved water main and gas main extension plans and the signing of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permits for the new Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners John Deere dealership being built off Route 3 south of Waterloo.

Also, the council approved the purchase of a new John Deere backhoe for the city’s street department from McCoy Construction & Forestry in the amount of $172,000. This new backhoe was in the city’s budget and will replace an aging backhoe, the city said.

Another action item from this meeting was the re-appointment of Ronald Spielman to the zoning board of appeals for a five-year term to expire Feb. 1, 2030.

The council also gave the OK for  beautification grant to Chantilly Corner, located at 131 W. Mill Street. 

The next city council meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3. 

Lost in the mail? 

Many city residents have voiced concerns about their most recent utility bill not yet arriving by mail for payment due by Feb. 5.

The City of Waterloo offers an online method to pay utility bills. 

To access this online option, visit waterloo.il.us/i-want-to/bill-payment/ and click on “Access Invoice Cloud.”

For more information,  or to simply pay your bill over the phone, call City Hall at 618-939-8600.