Wayne environmental services director on state board
Wayne County environmental services director Steven Wolfe poses in the Eastwood Wastewater Treatment Plant. Wolfe is responsible for nine treatment facilities in Wayne County and was recently appointed to a board position with the Operator Training Committee of Ohio.
Wayne County environmental services director Steven Wolfe was recently appointed to the Operator Training Committee of Ohio Board of Directors.
OTCO is a nonprofit organization that provides water and sewage treatment training and certification to treatment plant professionals.
With nearly 15 years of experience within Wayne County, two areas Wolfe hopes to contribute to the OTCO curriculum as a board member are preventative maintenance and ethics. Wolfe also has the vision to create an apprenticeship program in the county.
“You have to make sure that you are taking care of the equipment and assets,” Wolfe said. “You also have to verify that all of the information you are working with is accurate.”
From the air to the water, everything in the ecosystem is tied together. And that ecosystem is what motivates Wolfe to be prepared and work to eliminate as many breakdowns as he can. Equipment breakdowns are expensive and can create a lapse of service to customers.
Another area concerning Wolfe is maintaining a fully staffed and well-trained crew. Noticing a shortage of qualified individuals, Wolfe piloted an apprenticeship program.
“With the help of OTCO and the local schools, we hope to bring young people into this industry,” Wolfe said. “I had the idea of allowing high school students in to help with gathering geographic information system data. We trained the students to do GIS tasks, and they spent nearly a week out in the field recording all of the county assets that belong to the department.”
The advantage to having resources in a GIS database is anytime there is a problem, an employee knows the exact coordinates of that piece of equipment and can easily find it.
Since 2007 Wolfe has overseen the operation of Wayne County’s nine wastewater treatment plants.
“In this business you must be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to equipment maintenance,” Wolfe said. “I don’t need to stress that to others on the board at OTCO.”
Another aspect of running wastewater treatment facilities involves planning for the future, and Wolfe works closely with the Wayne County Planning Department to spot potential growth trends countywide.
Planning director Pete Wearstler appreciates Wolfe is always looking ahead.
“Sewer plays a major role in planning,” Wearstler said. “Steve is always looking five to 10 years down the road and planning for ways to accommodate growth. He creates a win-win situation for everyone.”
Wearstler said planning in rural parts of the county varies from place to place.
“We aren’t dealing with zoning regulations, and to grow, we need to expand existing infrastructure,” Wearstler said. “Steve is always aware of the capacity of our septic systems, allowing us to get out in front of any potential problems.”
The comprehensive plan, Wayne Onward, serves as the backbone of strategic development.
“Growth of an area requires a good amount of effort to adopt sustainability standards,” Wearstler said. “But the effort is necessary to provide for growth.”
For additional information about OTCO, visit www.otco.org or download a copy of the comprehensive plan at www.wayneonward.com.