Brian Schiber and Hal Wright have been named to interim leadership positions as the Geneva Public Works Director and Electric Division Superintendent respectively.
Schiber joined the organization last year as a City Engineer/Assistant Director of Public Works. He replaces Dan Dinges, who resigned June 19 to accept the director position with the Village of Bartlett.
Schiber has managed the Engineering/GIS Division, which is responsible for planning and implementing the City’s annual $2.5 million roadway and sidewalk improvement program budget. The division also performs plan reviews, coordinates capital projects with City staff, monitors road construction and oversees permitting for all improvements within the City’s right-of-ways.
Schiber’s accomplishments in the past year include:
• Western Avenue and Stevens Street reconstruction;
• East State Street Phase II engineering;
• Third Street Pedestrian Mall; and
• Third Street Commuter Parking Deck project initiation
Prior to coming to Geneva in 2013, Schiber was the village engineer for Oswego, Sugar Grove and Glendale Heights the last 25 years.
“I am confident in Brian’s abilities to step up and assume the many responsibilities of our Public Works Department as Interim Director,” City Administrator Mary McKittrick said. “We are fortunate to have his expertise, and we look forward to working with him through this transition.”
Wright takes over the Electric Division leadership post held by Mike Buffington, who died in a car accident June 12 in Sugar Grove.
A 27-year veteran of the City, Wright was originally hired as an Assistant to the Superintendent of Electric. For the last 20 years, he has served as Geneva’s Manager of Electric Operations.
His responsibilities have included overseeing the day-to-day operations of the electric distribution system, supervision of field crews, project design, and management for electric infrastructure maintenance and construction. Wright has direct oversight for the City’s electric substations, Geneva’s Generation Facility, supervisory control systems, outside fiber optic plant, metering and tree trimming operations.
Some of Wright’s notable accomplishments include:
• Upgrading the distribution system to triple its capacity;
• Design and construction (or reconstruction) of all of Geneva’s nine electric substations;
• Design and construction of more than 20 miles of fiber optic cable that feeds the City, schools, and Kane County data and phone networks within Geneva;
• Design and staking of more than 800 of the 2,400 distribution system utility poles; and
• Oversight of electric plant system growth from a 29-megawatt peak load in 1987 to its current 92-megawatt peak load.
The City has been accepting applications for the Public Works Director position and hopes to have the post filled by late summer. A decision regarding the Electric Division Superintendent position will be made in the future.