Sarasota County has hired a director to run its new Stormwater Department.
Ben Quartermaine, a senior project manager at engineering firm Stantec, is expected to take the role officially on Aug. 11, the county announced July 7.
“In his new role, Quartermaine will develop and implement comprehensive stormwater and flood mitigation strategies, lead infrastructure planning, maintenance and inter-agency collaboration,” the county said.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said in a statement he was confident in Quartermaine’s leadership.
“Ben’s deep technical knowledge, passion for water resource conservation and proven leadership make him the ideal person to head our stormwater efforts,” Lewis said.
Quartermaine graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1995. He has previously worked in the county’s stormwater operations.
It was only on July 1 that the Sarasota County Commission created the forthcoming Stormwater Department. Stormwater operations were previously run by a division under Manager Paul Semenec under the county’s Public Works Department, run by Director Spencer Anderson.
The commission decided to split the Public Works Department into two – one for transportation and another for stormwater – amid public outcry over its handling of Hurricane Debby’s flooding.
Anderson, former head of Public Works, will now run county transportation.
Commissioners have seemed to agree with advocates and flood victims who wanted to start anew the county’s stormwater operations.
“With all due respect to our current folks, it hasn’t worked out,” Commissioner Mark Smith said at a meeting last week.
The county administrator is expected to present more detailed plans on how the new department will be organized at meetings this week.
Christian Casale covers local government for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Email him at ccasale@gannett.com or christiancasale@protonmail.com
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stantec project manager tapped to lead the new Sarasota County Stormwater Department
Reporting by Christian Casale, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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