Zimmerman brings varied experience to Central Frontenac

Jeff Green | Apr 01, 2015

It turns out the idea of combining the chief administrator and public works manager’s roles in Central Frontenac came from the individual who ended up filling both roles.

Both positions were advertised at the same time. Jim Zimmerman, who was at loose ends after losing his management position at the City of Belleville just after the new council had been sworn in, saw the ads and responded by sending a resume and a covering letter to Central Frontenac.

“I suggested to them that there might be some savings for them if the two positions were combined, and that it might make them more competitive as well,” said Zimmerman, from his new office in the Central Frontenac administrative building in Sharbot Lake. Since he has both Public Works, Public Administration, and private sector management backgrounds, Zimmerman's suggestion also created an opportunity for himself, although he said, “I understand there were a number of qualified candidates for the position when it came time to interview for the job.”

After selling his shares in his company, Integrated Central Solutions, a company that worked on retrofits and system management in buildings that were used by high tech firms in Ottawa, he took a job with the new City of Ottawa dealing with wastewater.

He then moved into senior municipal management, taking the public works manager job in Marathon. During his two years there he also filled in as CAO on occasion. A senior public works job in Innisville, south of Barrie, followed. He then worked as a consultant with AECOM engineering for a time, before deciding to come back into the municipal world with Belleville last May.

“In a lot of ways Central Frontenac is a similar township to Marathon. It's a similar size and has similar infrastructure. But there is a lot of opportunity here because Central Frontenac is not that far from a number of population centres. It can be promoted as an attractive place to set up home-based businesses,” he said.

He does not plan any immediate changes to the way the township operates. However, he said he will be looking at all the job descriptions to find out if they need updating and will also be developing standard operating procedures for the public works department.

“I don't know how everything here works yet, so the first thing to do is find out, and find out what needs improving and work with our staff to make those improvements.”

Central Frontenac Township is not a unionized environment and Zimmerman said there are considerable advantages to it staying that way.

“We need to make sure that staff are comfortable and that they clearly understand what management expects from them. At the end of the day you want people to be enthusiastic and committed to their work and you want to ensure they have a healthy work-life balance as well,” he said.

He is also enthusiastic about the growing collaboration between the Frontenac townships, and said he looks forward to continuing those efforts.

In terms of roads and road maintenance, which he realises is a major concern of ratepayers, he might be bringing in something that he has done elsewhere, the use of reclaimed asphalt to create what he calls “poor man's paving” for gravel roads.

“You can apply the material on the roads, and when it is compacted it bonds with the material in the road. It is then covered with a slurry. I've had success with that in the past. The best part is the materials are cheap, even free,” he said.