MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello recently announced Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities Director George Spanos will retire from his position effective August 15, 2018.
Spanos first began his career with the county on March 23, 1987 as a junior engineer. Following a 17-year career with the Department of Public Facilities, he was appointed as director of public facilities on August 28, 2004.
“My decision to accept a position with Chautauqua County over 31 years ago has been very rewarding both professionally and personally,” said Spanos. “I have had a fabulous career and the opportunity to work for some great people. As I moved up in responsibility with the county, I have also been fortunate to have capable and hardworking employees who helped me accomplish many projects over the last 31 years. My wife and I raised our boys here and we will continue to call Chautauqua County our home.”
Throughout his career, Spanos has been responsible for overseeing the county’s divisions of airports and parks, buildings and grounds, Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System (CARTS), engineering, solid waste and transportation.
He also helped established the methane to electric plant at the county landfill and its expansion; the creation of the Millennium Parkway in Dunkirk; the completion of the runway extension project at the Dunkirk Airport and the runway safety area at the Jamestown Airport; the jail expansion; and the construction of the new transportation shops in Falconer and Sherman.
Spanos has also worked with municipal highway departments to develop shared services agreements where the county and municipalities can share equipment and work together to complete surface treatment projects. He also helped establish a shared fueling system for the county’s fleet and participating school districts, municipalities, and police departments.
Spanos has also been a member of the Chautauqua County Town and Village Highway Superintendents Association. He also served as President of the New York State County Highway Superintendents Association (NYSCHSA) in 2017, where he advocated for state resources to maintain roads, bridges, and culverts for the benefit and safety of the traveling public.
“As director of public facilities, George Spanos has worked tirelessly to ensure our county buildings and campuses are maintained and our county roads and bridges are repaired and cleared to provide year-round safety for our residents and visitors,” Borrello said. “In his tenure with the county, he also took on many additional tasks for the people of our county and our municipalities as the Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities assumed ownership and maintenance responsibility for all bridges in the county, the Dunkirk and Jamestown Airports, and CARTS services.”
“I thank George for his 31 years of incredible and exemplary service to Chautauqua County and he will be sorely missed.”
Borrello has begun the process of finding a replacement and has established a bi-partisan search committee to help him find the most qualified individual to serve as the new director.
