Candidates For Village Engineer Job Will Have Big Shoes to Fill

Kevin Koubek spent two decades as the for the village of Port Jefferson and in that time he reviewed building permit for projects both big and small.

“He knew all the stakeholders,” said Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant. “He has lots of institutional memory and knew our code in and out.”

The mayor said that permits for residential decks, new multi unit residential buildings and office complexes all came across Koubek’s desk. In addition to running the building and planning department he acted also as the village’s chief building inspector.

Now he will be at Mather Hospital, working with outside contractors and coordinating competitive bidding for new projects. He is replacing Norman Weiner in the role of Director of Project Management at the hospital. A spokesman for Mather said that Weiner is retiring at the end of January.

In the meantime, the village is depending on Denise Harrington, who was hired as Village Planner earlier this year, to pick up some of the slack.

“We’re extremely pleased with her professionalism and planning skills,” said Garant.

The village Board of Trustees and human resources personal are writing up a job description for the vacant director position. They’re looking to hire a part time independent contractor to work directly with the department to determine its needs, review processes and figure out just what kind of background they want in any potential candidates for the job.

Mayor Garant said that a number of senior staffers have recently retired out of other municipalities who can come on board to help the village in its search.

“We’re confident we will find a part time seasoned consultant to help us make the best decision as to how to fill this position in the most efficient manner,” she said.

As for Koubek, the mayor wished him well in his new position.

“Kevin was an exemplary employee,” she said. “We will miss him and wish him only the best.”