Discussion:
Bruce Loney will be retiring on May 31, 2017, as the city’s City Engineer/Public Works Director. Bruce joined the City of Shakopee in 1995 as city engineer. At the time, he was the organization's lone professional engineer. Over the years, he has overseen the city's expanding infrastructure, including roads, trails, sanitary sewer and surface water. Today, he manages a department of 36 employees in three divisions.
Loney graduated from North Dakota State University in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Prior to joining the city, he was the assistant city engineer for the City of Prior Lake from 1985 through 1995.
Loney is an active member in several professional organizations, including CEAM, the American Public Works Association and the Metro Cities Technical Advisory Committee. He received the City of Shakopee Administrator’s Leadership Award in 2015.
Additionally, Mr. Loney was named Minnesota’s Engineer of the Year at the 2016 City Engineers Associate of Minnesota (CEAM) conference in Brooklyn Center.
Mr.Loney has applied for a Phased Retirement Option (PRO), which is available through PERA, the Public Employee Retirement Association. Under a PRO, Mr. Loney would continue to be an employee, but would only work 20 hours per week beginning June 1 through the end of the year. The end date can be adjusted based upon the needs of either Mr. Loney or the city.
In lieu of Mr. Loney receiving more sick and vacation accruals, he has requested that while on the PRO that the city pay for his single health insurance coverage. His current balances of sick and vacation time are at the maximum allowed, and thereby continuing his health insurance, instead of him receiving more sick and vacation accruals, actually saves the city money.
In the future, we will be using Bruce’s time on the PRO to transition knowledge to a new City Engineer/Public Works Director.