NEW PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR EMPHASIZES ORGANIZATION

JACKSON -- Though trained as a field geologist, Jim Roach's career path has taken him to the land of budgets and schedules.

"I like things to be organized," says Roach, who last week assumed his duties as director of the Department of Public Works for the City of Jackson.

Though he brings private-sector experience in environmental engineering to the job, Roach says his primary role for the city is to organize the work of the departments he oversees.

"We have some folks who have been with the city more than 30 years. Those folks are the technical experts," he says. "My job is to orchestrate that."

While working for a consulting firm a few years ago, Roach received an emergency call when 200,000 gallons of gasoline spilled into the Mississippi River at St. Louis. He was in charge of designing and installing a remediation system.

Last week, he sped to the scene when five gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled on Highway 61.

Jackson firefighters and city workers had neutralized the spill by the time he arrived, impressing the new Public Works boss.

"They already had that down," he said.

Jackson's growth is the big challenge facing Roach, who is in charge of the city's streets, its power and water systems and its waste disposal. When he graduated from high school in 1976, the city was half its current size, he says.

In August, voters passed a $10.54 million sewer and water bond issue which will enable the city to phase in at least one new well, larger water mains, enhanced filtering capacity for the water plant and an improved sanitary sewer collection system -- all to handle Jackson growth.

"The challenge is to manage that growth and maintain the quality of life," he says.

Roach and his wife, Cyndi, grew up in Jackson and moved back both to be near his grandmother and so their children could attend Jackson schools. Their son, Justin, is in the seventh grade and their daughter, Hannah, has just begun kindergarten.

"We still know a lot of the teachers," he says.

Roach played football for Jackson High School under coach Paul Webber, graduated from Southeast and received a graduate degree in geology from the University of Arkansas.

He went to work for Burns & McDonnell, an engineering and consulting firm based in Kansas City. After two years he was transferred to St. Louis, where he handled solid waste and environmental projects and managed the company's office.

The family moved back to Jackson four years ago, although he continued commuting to the Burns & McDonnell office in Fenton. When Tom Morris left the Public Works directorship a few months ago for a position at Southeast Missouri State University, Roach grabbed the opportunity.

The job is a good fit, he says. "The city was looking for strong management skills, an engineering background and people skills."

Roach was looking for a new challenge. "I've always been interested in the public sector," he says.

He expects to run the department a bit more like a business than it has in the past, with him serving as the point man whether it's a big project or someone calling to ask why their water pressure is low.

"There are a lot of department supervisors that people know personally," he says, "but I hope to funnel it all through here."

The city's growth rate makes good organization essential, he says. "We're getting beyond where we can just wing things."