News Roundup – Engineer Eber is leaving city/Who will be Citizen o’ Year?/Kidimu set to change exhibit

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, August 26, 2006

Engineer Eber is leaving city

City engineer and roundabout guru Lorenz Eber announced his resignation this week, adding another vacancy to an under-staffed public works department.

With Eber’s departure next month, the five-person crew of engineers assigned to capital projects will fall on the shoulders of a single staffer.

“We’ll have just one out of five,” said Public Works Director Randy Witt said Friday. “Will it have an impact? Yeah, absolutely. It’s true we’re not getting stuff done. We need to get shored up.”

Employed by the department for over six years, Eber made his mark on the island by championing the roundabout project at the intersection of High School Road and Madison Avenue.

He is currently working on numerous projects, including the development of a public restroom at Waterfront Park.

“He was working on a lot of things,” said Witt. “The restroom at the park is one we’ll keep working on, but we have to sit down and think about all the projects and about how we’re going to move forward.”

Eber cited a family move as a reason for the resignation.

“His wife got a job back East so I know he’ll be moving the family,” Witt said.

Witt characterized Eber as a hard-working, knowledgeable and charismatic engineer.

“He was a guy who’d take a high-profile project – like the roundabout, where he really came into his own,” Witt said. “He became the public face of the department. He had a gregarious personality and could talk about technical stuff and make people understand, and yet (stay) honest to the technical needs.”

– Tristan Baurick

Who will be Citizen o’ Year?

Nominations and letters of support for this year’s Bainbridge Island Citizen of the Year need to be in Kiwanis hands by Aug. 29. They’ll choose the honoree on the morning of the 30th.

Nominations can be mailed to P.O. Box 10602, Bainbridge Isalnd, or dropped off to a Kiwanis member by calling 842-5882 or 855-1238.

The award is Kiwanis’ way of honoring someone on the island who has made a significant contribution to improving the island community. The Citizen of the Year dinner will be held at IslandWood on Sept. 24.

Kidimu set to change exhibit

The nonprofit Kids Discovery Museum will retire the popular “Zany Rainy Forest” exhibit next week to make room for a new “top secret exhibit” to be unveiled in early October.

“We have mixed emotions about saying goodbye to our popular “Zany Rainy Forest exhibit,” said Cheryl Dale, executive director. “It’s a highly imaginative exhibit, but we feel it’s time to introduce a fresh educational topic.”

The new exhibit will remain a mystery to the public until opening day. However, on a weekly basis, the Kids Discovery Museum will provide clues and ask kids to submit their guesses in a ballot box outside the building. All winners who guess the theme correctly will receive a prize.

The “Zany Rainy Forest” exhibit will be shipped to another community to enjoy. The last day for visitors to see it on Bainbridge is next Thursday.

The museum will temporarily close during the month of September to work on the new installation.

Charlotte Beall and Larry Ackerley of LA CAB, a Seattle-based exhibit design company, are working on the new display.