A transportation expert has been named the city of Lewiston’s new community development director after the retirement of Laura Von Tersch.
Shannon Grow, the director of the Lewis Clark Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, started Monday in the position which is under the direction of the mayor and pays $98,534 annually.
“(Grow) brings management experience and a broad skill set to community development that will benefit several programs at the city of Lewiston,” said Lewiston’s Mayor Dan Johnson in a city of Lewiston news release.
Before taking the position with the MPO six years ago, Grow was with the city of Lewiston for 16 years, mostly within the community development department.
“(Grow) has extensive experience managing the city’s transit system and working with local, state and regional agencies on transportation program planning, development and implementation,” according to the news release.
What responsibilities Grow will have with the MPO moving forward is still being decided, Johnson said in an email.
A plan is being developed to have community development and the MPO under Grow’s direction, but there is no agreement yet with the MPO, he said.
The MPO identifies projects needed to maintain, upgrade and add roads. Money from the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration supports its activities. It also gets revenue from area municipalities including the cities of Lewiston, Clarkston and Asotin as well as Nez Perce and Asotin counties.
Von Tersch is the fifth high-ranking civil servant to leave the city or announce plans to depart since the municipality switched to a strong mayor form of government.
Lewiston’s fire chief, Travis Myklebust, 49, announced last month he is retiring at the end of May.
Dan Marsh’s last day in his job was March 31 after his position as the city’s administrative services director, chief financial officer and city treasurer was eliminated as part of a reorganization.
Former Lewiston Police Chief Budd Hurd retired in July. He was replaced by Jason Kuzik, who started in October. Kuzik came to Lewiston from Nevada where he was a patrol captain in the Henderson Police Department.
Assistant City Attorney Kayla Hermann was promoted to city attorney in late September after Jana Gomez took a job as senior corporate counsel at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.
Von Tersch spent 18 years as director of community development contributing “positively to the growth of the city of Lewiston,” Johnson said in the news release.
The time she was with the city was enjoyable, Von Tersch said in a text.
It involved running construction projects such as the rebuilding of First and Fifth streets, upgrades in the water supply in north Lewiston and work on the sanitary sewer system in the east Orchards to protect water quality, she said.
“I leave behind the incredibly talented community development staff, who made my success possible,” Von Tersch said. “I will be forever in their debt.”
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
