NATCHEZ &045; Outgoing City Engineer David Gardner has had a message for aldermen: Fill his position immediately.

The reason: Gardner is the only registered professional engineer in his office.

Personnel in Gardner’s office &045; a city surveyor and three engineering technicians &045; are familiar enough to handle in the short term the $17.3 million in construction projects the department now oversees.

&uot;The in-house people can and will oversee those in the short term, but most all grants that we deal with require a registered professional engineer to administer them,&uot; said Gardner, who has met with aldermen individually to let them know of his plans to resign.

Those grants won’t be in jeopardy, however, if the city acts quickly to hire a registered professional engineer to fill the position he will vacate May 1.

Alderman Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West said the Board of Aldermen will discuss the vacancy at its next work session, set for 4 p.m. April 6 at City Hall.

The board already has its plate full. It recently hired a personnel director and will hold interviews next week for the city planner’s position &045; not to mention the position of public works director, which is still vacant.

Meanwhile, West said, &uot;congratulations to David Gardner. He’s done a tremendous job for the city, and I’m glad he’s staying with the city.&uot;

Gardner is leaving as city engineer, a position he’s held since January 1993, to head the Natchez Waterworks following Water Superintendent James Thorpe’s retirement.

When he does, he’ll leave behind projects in various stages of development, including:

4The renovation of Memorial Hall as a federal courthouse, a $5 million project.

4Improvements to the drainage system of north and downtown Natchez, $8 million.

4Emergency stabilization for the Mississippi River bluff, $1 million.

4Establishing a walking trail along the foot and top of the bluff, $2 million.

4Engineering work for the relocation of the Liberty Road fire station, $400,000.

That’s not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of erosion control projects that are either now being closed out or are being planned.

The department also works with a variety of federal, state and local agencies on a number of projects besides the ones above, providing an array of services.

Projects on which the Engineering Department has provided services include the Natchez Trace extension, the Liberty Road interchange, the Forks of the Road project, detection of sewer system leaks and Mississippi River bank stabilization.

In addition, the department works with other city departments on an ongoing basis, from helping Recreation with Duncan Park golf course improvements to helping Public Works with infrastructure projects.

&uot;Over the weekend, I helped the police station with problems they had with the sewer system backing up into the jail,&uot; Gardner said.

He said the quickest and best way to advertise a position such as city engineer is usually through local and regional newspapers.

If the city chose to, it could also advertise on the Web site of the American Society of Civil Engineers or in Civil Engineering magazine, Gardner said.

&uot;But there are engineers locally who can do this job,&uot; Gardner said. &uot;What we need do is to plan Š so there’s a smooth transition.&uot;

To help ease that transition, Gardner said he will be on hand to train the department’s new director &045; and will be available to help even after he starts his waterworks job.

&uot;The staff we have is an excellent staff, and they’ll be a big asset to continuing these projects,&uot; Gardner said. &uot;But I’ll still be just a phone call away, and I’ll be checking on the department every day.&uot;