Sussex County engineer to retire after 31 years of service

Georgetown, Del., Aug. 11, 2015: Sussex County’s top engineer is putting the final seal on more than three decades of public service.

County Engineer Michael A. Izzo will retire Sept. 15 from the position he has held since 1996, overseeing a staff of nearly 150 people in nine divisions that are responsible for designing, constructing and maintaining County projects that include public wastewater systems and various facilities. Engineering is the single largest department within County government, and one of its most critical, employing engineers, project managers, draftsmen, construction technicians, wastewater operators, electricians, and maintenance crews, among others.

“For 31 years, I have had the honor of serving my fellow Sussex County residents, and in all that time there’s never been a dull day,” Mr. Izzo said. “This is a decision-making business, and our mantra has always been to select the path forward that best serves the citizens of Sussex County.”

A graduate of the University of South Alabama, Mr. Izzo, 55, of Frankford has been employed with Sussex County government for 31 years, serving 19 of those years as County Engineer. During his tenure, Mr. Izzo has helped guide dozens of public projects, including construction of the County’s 911 center, three paramedic stations, three public libraries, a new airport terminal building and runway extension, the Nanticoke River dredging and park projects, not to mention hundreds of miles of public wastewater systems. Those sewer systems alone have brought about a tremendous environmental benefit to the county, eliminating more than 16,000 septic systems in the Inland Bays watershed.

Mr. Izzo said those accomplishments would not have been possible without the vision of the County Council and the support of the dedicated professionals he has led for the past two decades. “I have always maintained that our County employees, both past and present, are our most valuable asset,” Mr. Izzo said.

While Mr. Izzo is capping his service to County government, it is not the end of a career – just the completion of one project and the start of a new one. He plans to take an engineering division manager position with a contractor at the Wallops Flight Facility near Wallops Island, Va.

County Council President Michael H. Vincent said the County has been fortunate over the years to have Mr. Izzo, who was named in 2011 as the Delaware Engineering Society’s Government Engineer of the Year.

“Mike Izzo knows Sussex County, quite literally, down to the ground and even what’s beneath our feet,” Mr. Vincent said. “He has been a tremendous asset to the County, keeping a steady hand on projects the public utilizes each and every day. We wish him all the best in this next chapter of his life.”

The County will conduct a national search to fill the position; candidates will be required to have at least 10 years’ worth of experience and be registered as a professional engineer. In the interim, Assistant County Engineer Joe Wright will lead the Engineering department and its divisions until a new County Engineer is named.

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