Ron Salmons

had little time for orientation after he started work a few weeks ago

as Fayette's county engineer.

The department

had been at about half its authorized strength for most of a year, and

there was work to be done.

David Borkowski

has functioned as acting county engineer while the search was on to fill

the post, and has had to get the job done with three people out of a normal

staff of six.

"Hopefully

I can give them a little relief," said Salmons. "They've been

working awfully hard. Dave has sort of been swamped." A new environmental

specialist also recently joined the department, leaving a clerical position

as the only one now unfilled.

Making sure

that buildings, roads and other man-made facilities in Fayette County

follow the county's quality and safety standards is the job of the Engineering

Department.

Among the first

tasks that Salmon has had to wade into is the closing of the county's

landfill on First Manassas Mile Road in Fayetteville. Seepage of some

toxic chemicals was found when the closure began several years ago, and

the department has been working ever since to make sure that the seepage

is halted and to monitor it.

"We're

trying to meet some [state-imposed] deadlines" in dealing with the

problem, Salmons said. "The first few weeks I've been heavily involved

in just reviewing documents and getting up to speed in that area."

Timing is good.

Hiring of a consultant to oversee remediation of the problem is on the

County Commission's work session agenda today at 3:30 p.m.

Another area

of concern that will occupy the department in the near future is a set

of new federal and state requirements for monitoring and cleaning up rainwater

runoff. Borkowski "has been very active in it," said Salmons,

adding that the regulations are "still in a state of flux."

The new rules

may require that local governments and developers share the costs of removing

spilled gasoline, lawn chemicals and other pollution from rainwater before

releasing it into the environment.

Salmons, a

native of Jefferson City, Mo., was educated at the University of Missouri

at Columbia and Georgia Tech. He worked as a civil engineer with the Federal

Highway Administration for 33 years the last eight years in management

before retiring and moving to Georgia recently.

"I threw

away my snow blower and moved south," smiled the Henry County resident.

But he wasn't

content to stop working altogether. "You've got to love your work

or you wouldn't be going there everyday," he said.

He worked part

time with the Federal Emergency Management Agency until learning of the

Fayette County opening and applying for it.

"I've

enjoyed it so far," he said. "Everything's still sort of new,

but everyone has been great to work with."