Otto to retire after 38 years with county roads

Jerry Otto, 62, is retiring after 38 years at the Hill County Road and Bridge Department and is looking forward to tending to his cows, visiting with family and even trying his hand at gold panning in Alaska.

Otto has been the Road Department Supervisor for the last 24 years, position he earned after 14 years of working his way up the old-fashioned way.

"I started as a heavy equipment operator," he said. "The first day on the job they gave me a hammer, and I worked for two weeks on a bridge. That's kind of the way they broke everybody in back then - make sure you can work first, and if you did a good job working, then they'd move

you to a piece of equipment."

A lot has changed during his nearly four-decade period at the Hill County Road and Bridge Department.

When he started, there were 32 employees at the

department. As people moved on - Otto said no one was fired or laid off - the county just didn't replace them. Now there are 16 employees, he said, but still the same 1,830 miles of road in Hill County. He said the improved equipment the department acquired over that time has mitigated the strain caused by the steady decline in personnel.

Otto said he felt one of his biggest accomplishments was helping to get the state to take over maintenance of state Highway 234, the road going to and into Beaver Creek Park. He said the county was putting in $60,000 a year trying to keep up the pavement.

After the state took over maintenance it upgraded and rebuilt the highway, a $26 million project, and Otto said he's proud of the improvement.

Other projects Otto is pleased to have been a part of are the five new bridges the Road and Bridge Department built during his time as supervisor. The old bridges were built around the 1960s, he said, and they incurred annual damage from "the ice flows." The new bridges are made of concrete and they're not as feeble. This is especially important, he said, considering the damage caused by the increased traffic of semitractor-trailers.

"Concrete costs more and lasts longer - these bridges will go 50, 75 years without a problem," he said.

It's clear Otto genuinely likes his job by the way he talks about these projects. But he said it was his co-workers who made his job enjoyable. He said he will miss them.

"I had a good crew, one of the best crews. I can honestly say that. They made the job easier," he said.

Otto said he had a lot of uncles who didn't live too long, so even though he could still work, he wanted to call it quits and take time to do other things. July 5 is his last day.

He said he has "a little farm" and some beef cows he tends to, three sons and six grandchildren whom he and his wife would like to spend more time with and maybe even take another trip to Alaska. He said there's a place, Bachelor Creek, in Fairbanks, where he'd like to pan for gold. He doesn't expect to strike it rich, just some recreational gold panning while being in the Alaskan country.