Longtime Palatine public works director retiring

The trees, leaves, water and sewers in Palatine have been under the jurisdiction of Public Works Director Andy Radetski for 23 years.

But all that will change March 26, when Radetski officially retires.

"I started in 1987 when the village's population was 33,000," he said. "I've been a part of a lot of change around here, and I've gotten to the point where I'd like to try some different things."

Radetski will stay on as a consultant one day a week for the next 18 months in order to help oversee the construction of the new police and fire stations.

He said he's most proud of developing cost-effective partnership programs with the private sector. For instance, public works will remove smaller trees in-house but hire outside firms for large trees since they have logging trucks. In the past, the department would use up employee hours and a lot of saws breaking down the tree.

Since Palatine has a hiring freeze, Assistant Public Works Director Elias Koutas will serve as acting director until at least early 2011. Assistant Village Engineer Matt Barry also will take on some public works duties.

"Andy completely empowered workers to function independently in the field and was always finding innovative and cost-effective ways of doing things," Village Manager Reid Ottesen said. "He has made sure Palatine has one of the top levels of public works services out there."

- Kimberly Pohl

kpohl@dailyherald.com