New roads boss replaces longtime Maine Township official

A longtime Maine Township trustee has replaced the longtime township highway commissioner who retired.

Walter Kazmierczak now heads the department responsible for the maintenance of 50 lane miles of roadway, 100 streets, sewers and sidewalks in the unincorporated areas of Maine Township.

Kazmierczak, of Park Ridge, was appointed to the $98,294-a-year post by his colleagues on the township board this week. He replaced Robert Provenzano, of Des Plaines, who spent 18 years in the position.

Provenzano, a prominent figure in the Maine Township Regular Republican Organization, was previously a Maine Township trustee and collector.

Kazmierczak will serve out the remainder of Provenzano's term, which expires next April when local elections are held.

Supervisor Carol Teschky and trustees have 60 days to appoint a replacement for Kazmierczak on the board. That term also concludes in April.

Kazmierczak, elected to the board in 2001, was most recently manager of community relations with the Illinois Council of Banks and Real Estate. But without a full-time job, Kazmierczak was chosen highway commissioner because of his availability to work the full-time position, said Dick Barton, the township's spokesman.

The highway commissioner overseas a staff of a half-dozen employees who repair streets, plow snow and fix streetlights.

Kazmierczak is a board member for the Township Officials of Cook County and has held leadership positions in the organization.