Monia Looks Ahead To Successor To Oversee Bloomsdale’s Wastewater Plant

Bloomsdale Mayor Paul Monia addressed the eventual retirement of the city’s wastewater superintendent, Ron Berkbuegler, and a possible replacement during the Board of Aldermen meeting on September 10.

“When my term is up, Ron Berkbuegler’s license is up; and he’s probably going into retirement,” Monia told the aldermen. “That will take us to April 2021. I have opted to put somebody with him now, that I’ve done research on, that is in this business.”

Jacob Byington is now on the city payroll, learning the ins and outs of the system from Berkbuegler. Monia assured the aldermen he will be a good fit.

“He also currently works for Holcim,” Monia said. “He has been in this field for a good portion of his life, but he’s still a young man. He opted to get out of that field and go to work for Holcim. But he would like to do something else.”

Monia, who himself used to run the plant, said Byington may be just the person to eventually succeed the highly-esteemed Berkbuegler.

“He’s a very energetic young man, so I said, ‘You know what? I’ll give you the opportunity to shadow Ron and see,’” Monia said. “Ron has come back with nothing but positives. His background is spot-on.”

See complete story in the September 18 edition of the Herald.