Dean Schiller Celebrates First Week as Street Superintendent
New Street Superintendent Dean Schiller officially started in his role on March 1, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of Mike Winch.
In his first week working for the City of Marshfield, Schiller has enjoyed working with the staff to learn how the division currently operates during everything from an average day to a big snow event.
“I don’t think I need to come in and make too many changes,” he said. “Right now, I just want to get in and see the operation, find areas that I can tweak and improve on the process. I’m not looking to make wholesale changes as there is nothing glaring that needs that.”
Schiller commends the great staff in Marshfield, which is one of the reasons he was excited to accept the job.
After graduating with an A.A.S. in Civil Engineering/Highway Technologies, the Loyal native began his career with the City of Ripon Engineering Department.
“There I had a chance to do a lot of the survey, design and inspection work of the city’s infrastructure. I was able to work closely with the City Engineer and learned a lot from him,” he said.
After eight years with Ripon, Schiller accepted the head role in Greenville (near Appleton) which has a population of about 12,000.
“It was a great opportunity to work there,” he said. “When I first got there, they didn’t have much. We grew a lot together and went through a lot of growing pains together.”
In his twelve years in Greenville, Schiller helped develop a fleet management program, street maintenance programs, purchased equipment, helped to implement the Town’s GIS program, and develop an anti-icing program using salt brine – all skills he is eager to bring to a larger level in Marshfield.
“My vision is to work closely with City staff to develop a vision together,” he said. “Sometimes you’re limited on what you can do with budget constraints, but you do the best you can with what you’ve got. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I feel confident I can do everything here, it’s just on a larger scale that what I’m used to. Like going from Single A baseball to the Majors. I’m looking forward to that.”
Schiller also plans to make communication a priority, both internally and with the public to help better educate the community on what the Street Division is doing as a whole.
“One of the things I like about working here is you’re serving your community,” he said. “I like the chance to be able to serve.”
In his free time, Schiller enjoys staying active by attending sporting events, hiking, running, kayaking, and snowshoeing.
Related:
City’s Finance, Budget, & Personnel Committee Approves New Street Superintendent Hire
