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Madison Town Engineer Mike Ott Resigns

After more than a decade’s worth of service to the Town of Madison, Director of Engineering Mike Ott has resigned. The resignation was presented to and accepted by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on June 26.

Over the nearly 13 years Ott has worked for the town, he has been involved in numerous major projects across town, including the Senior Center, the Ambulance Center, Strong Center, major roads reconstruction, the Downtown Center Project, and Salt Meadow Park.

“I am very proud of all that the Engineering Department has accomplished in the time that I have been here,” said Ott. “I love the town and have loved my job here and I hope to continue to serve the town in the future from a different position in the private sector.”

All of the selectmen wished him well, including First Selectman Tom Banisch who, despite recent tensions over the town campus baseball field project, said he and Ott are parting amicably.

“Obviously we are sad to see him go because Mike has been an important member of this team for a long time, but he has decided that he wants to go out on his own and having owned my own business, I know the rewards of that and I know the challenges,” he said. “I wish him the best and I think it is going to be exciting for him.”

Ott will serve the town from a consulting position in the new fiscal year starting July 1 as the town searches for a new engineer. In the meantime, Director of Public Works John Iennaco has been appointed interim Director of Engineering.

In the meeting, the BOS also recognized the total dollar amount of donated services Ott managed to bring in to help complete the town campus baseball field through his professional connections. Over the past few weeks, several companies including Anderson Brothers Sanitation & Excavation, Inc., Lindahl Excavating, LLC, Madison Earth Care Landscaping, Madison Flower Shop & Garden Center, Schumack Engineered Construction, and Testori Brothers Excavation, LLC have all been at work on the field.

Between the six companies, the total amount of services donated comes to more than $20,000. Jim Lally of Schumack Engineered Construction said he was happy to help when Ott reached out to him.

“We have done a lot of work for the town over the years through Mike Ott and we felt that the kids shouldn’t be punished by not having a ball field to play on and whatever we could do to make it happen, we would volunteer our work to help out,” he said. “…That is the old Yankee way of giving back. I think Mike Ott should really be commended for putting this together and expediting it.”