Sean C. Morgan
Greg Springman comes to Sweet Home as the city’s new Public Works director with 30 years of experience in the field.
“Greg comes to us with an extensive knowledge and history in both water and wastewater collections,” said City Manager Ray Towry. “Having worked for an extremely large water district in California, he understands environmental requirements.”
Springman’s last position was Public Works director in Manitou Springs, Colo., Towry said.
He has a lot of experience working with inflow and infiltration, Towry said.
That is a problem Sweet Home has been addressing for nearly two decades. Inflow and infiltration is storm water that leaks into the city sewer system through deteriorating pipes or through cross connections to storm drains. During heavy rains, it can overload the Wastewater Treatment Plant, forcing the city to bypass heavily diluted but untreated wastewater into the river.
“Greg has a lot of experience in areas we need to tackle,” Towry said. “And he likes to fish.”
Springman, 52, started work on June 19.
He has some 30 years of experience in water and wastewater in Southern California. He started in the Eastern Municipal Water District, which serves approximately two dozen cities, water districts and school districts southeast of Los Angeles.
Springman has worn many hats during his career, he said. He started as a water treatment operator.
He spent nine years in environmental compliance, inspecting industrial wastewater users in a pre-treatment program with the Cucamonga Valley Water District east of Los Angeles, serving as water and wastewater maintenance supervisor there for 3½ years.
He was collection system manager for 10 years with the Irvine Ranch Water District, the largest in Orange County, serving a population of 330,000.
There he managed 1,030 miles of sewer mains, ranging from 6 to 66 inches, and 15 lift stations, used to lift wastewater uphill – Sweet Home’s system is entirely gravity-operated and has no lift stations.
During that period, Springman completed his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in organizational leadership at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
In 2015, he became Public Works director in Manitou Springs, Colo. He was there for about a year before moving to Oregon for personal reasons.
“My whole family is up here,” he said. With 30 years of work in California, he was able to semi-retire and move. He spent about 15 months on a “sabbatical,” resting and recharging.
Springman is a 1982 graduate of Hemet High School in Hemet, Calif., where he grew up on his grandfather’s dairy farm.
“I think people in small communities are more passionate about their communities,” Springman said. “I think you have to wear a lot more hats.”
Growing up in a small town, he thinks he can bridge the differences from working in major metropolitan areas.
Springman is living in the South Beach area in Newport. He said he will remain there for a little while before relocating to the Sweet Home area.
After a week on the job, Springman said, “it’s busy. There’s a lot of things to do. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” and he still has “a lot to absorb. In every city, there is infrastructure problems. How do we get some funds to small communities – that’s the challenge.”
He has done some grant writing, Springman said, but everyone does that. The question is how to make the community stand out and get into the running for grant funds.
That’s something that, as part of the management team, he expects to work on, he said.
“I think my goal is to come in here and fit into the community and city as part of the team and contribute as best I can.”
Springman is married to Stelle. They have six children, including two sons serving in the Marine Corps, and eight grandchildren. The family is scattered across the United States, including some in Oregon.