OGDEN — The Ogden City Council unanimously approved the appointments of Justin Anderson and Taylor Nielson as the new Director of Public Services and City Engineer, respectively.
The appointment of Anderson comes as part of a succession plan by Jay Lowder, who will retire as the Director of Public Services in January.
Anderson, who has served as the City Engineer since 2008 and was promoted to the Public Services Deputy Director position in 2012, expressed his gratitude to the Council and Ogden City Mayor Michael P. Caldwell for the appointment to his new position.
"Thank you for your support,” he told the Council. “I also want to take a moment to thank Jay Lowder. I've never had an individual who has pushed me so hard. He has put his heart in this community for 38 years."
Filling in Anderson's role as City Engineer is Nielsen, who thanked Mayor Caldwell for his leadership and fellow Ogden City employees for confronting challenges together.
Nielsen has been with Ogden City since 2011 first as a Development Engineer and most recently as the Assistant City Engineer since 2017.
"I look forward to the opportunity to serve as the City Engineer," Nielsen said. "I'm looking forward to many exciting projects to come in the future."
Mayor Caldwell expressed his thanks to the Council for the support of the appointment and expressed optimism for their work in the future.
"I want to thank you all for your support for Director Anderson and City Engineer Nielsen," he said. "I think they're going to be amazing. You've got a phenomenal, deep bench of people that have been here for a long time, who are committed to this community, and know how to get difficult things done."
The appointments of Anderson and Nielsen will be in effect in January in coordination with the retirement of Lowder.
The Public Services Department is one of the largest and most publicly visible departments within the city. The department consists of 6 divisions covering a broad range of services including engineering, Golf, Parks and Cemetery, Public Works Operations, Recreation, and City Utilities, which include Water, Sanitary Sewer, and Refuse.
The Ogden City Council looks forward to the continued careers of both Anderson and Nielsen with Ogden City and anticipates a productive future.
Council Staff Contact: Janene Eller-Smith, janeneeller-smith@ogdencity.com, 801-629-8165