Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Oswego hires interim public works director
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- 0:05Speaker 1: Oswego hires interim public works director. Written by Eric Schellkopf.
- 0:11Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
- 0:14Speaker 1: to you by Everlit. The village of Oswego has hired
- 0:18Speaker 1: an interim public works director with the upcoming departure of
- 0:22Speaker 1: current director, Kirk Cassidy. Cassidy's last day is September 18th.
- 0:27Speaker 1: The village hired him in September, 2024 as its incoming director.
- 0:32Speaker 1: Before he took over, Cassidy worked alongside Oswego Public Works
- 0:36Speaker 1: director Jennifer Hughes before she retired in April 2025. Hughes
- 0:40Speaker 1: was elected to the Oswego Village Board last year. It
- 0:44Speaker 1: was a pleasure to work with her when she was
- 0:46Speaker 1: the previous director, and I continued to work with her
- 0:49Speaker 1: when she got on the Village Board, said Cassidy following
- 0:52Speaker 1: the September 1st Oswego Village Board meeting. It's bittersweet, but
- 0:57Speaker 1: I certainly enjoyed my time here. Cassidy said he plans
- 1:01Speaker 1: to return to Texas. where he worked prior to getting
- 1:04Speaker 1: hired by the village. Cassidy said he appreciated being able
- 1:07Speaker 1: to work on career-defining projects such as the 30-mile, nearly
- 1:11Speaker 1: $ 400 million Lake Michigan Transmission main extension to provide Lake
- 1:16Speaker 1: Michigan water to Oswego, Yorkville, and Montgomery. He was born
- 1:21Speaker 1: in southern Illinois and raised in central Illinois. While he
- 1:25Speaker 1: was running Oswego's public works department, Cassidy said he was
- 1:29Speaker 1: proud of being able to advocate for the village. such
- 1:31Speaker 1: as the $ 10. 6 million in federal funding he secured for
- 1:35Speaker 1: the construction of a roundabout at Wolf's Crossing and Douglas Road.
- 1:40Speaker 1: The roundabout in Oswego is part of a continuing effort
- 1:43Speaker 1: to improve safety and ease traffic congestion along the road.
- 1:48Speaker 1: Federal funding is paying for 71% of the project, which
- 1:52Speaker 1: is estimated to cost about $ 15 million. Not only did
- 1:56Speaker 1: I get to be part of the planning and try
- 1:58Speaker 1: to obtain the funding, but now I'm also kind of
- 2:01Speaker 1: the construction engineer, Cassidy said. At the September 1st Oswego
- 2:05Speaker 1: Village board meeting, trustees approved hiring Phil Modaff as the
- 2:09Speaker 1: interim public works director. He will start September 21st. Modaff
- 2:14Speaker 1: is a retired public works director and village administrator with
- 2:18Speaker 1: more than 25 years of public works experience.