The City of Fruitland Park has a new public works director.
Robb Dicus, a longtime resident who already was working for the department, has been promoted to the top job. He replaces the late Dale Bogle, who died unexpectedly last month at Leesburg Regional Medical Center following a brief illness.
Dicus, 42, has lived in Fruitland Park for close to 38 years and has been an employee of the city for about seven years. Prior to that, he spent 15 years as a commercial plumber.
“Robb knows our water system and electrical system like the back of his hand,” said City Manager Gary La Venia, who promoted Dicus to the top public works job last week. “He was Dale’s go-to guy and he was grooming Robb to take over for the day he retired. So, it’s just a little bit sooner than we anticipated.”
For his part, Dicus said he’s excited about moving up in the department. He said it’s bittersweet to be promoted following Bogle’s death and he will miss working with him.
“Dale as a good guy to me,” Dicus said. “He brought me in and was transitioning to the public works director job when I started. He was looking for somebody to do utility work and I had worked in commercial plumbing, so I kind of fit the mold.”
Dicus said his goal moving forward is quite simple – to do the best job he possibly can for the city. He said he’s seen many positive changes and he’s looking forward to being a part of making future improvements happen as well.
“There’s a lot of stuff to handle,” he said. “In the last couple of years, there’s been a lot of projects that went on and good things happening for the city.”
Dicus said his department consists of about eight people who take great pride in handling a variety of assignments, from utilities to mechanic work to parks and rec to lawn mowing, to name just a few.
“We do a lot with the people we have,” he said. “We’re not like big cities where we have a specialized water department or other specialized departments. Everybody does everything. If we get a water main break, the entire department goes out there and works on it.”
Dicus said he had thought about one day serving as the city’s public works director and at first wasn’t sure he was quite ready to take that step, partly because it can be a taxing job and he and his wife are raising young children. But he said they talked it over, he put in his resume, and the rest is history.
“I thought to myself that this opportunity might never come around again,” he said. “I’m hoping it goes well and I can do good things for the city.”
Mayor Chris Cheshire said he’s expecting great things from Dicus and is confident La Venia selected the right person for the job.
“It’s great that we have him,” he said. “It’s good hiring from within and he’s going to do a good job. We’re really very pleased to have him here.”
