Seaside’s new Public Works Director Dale McDowell says there won’t be major changes under his leadership. McDowell plans to continue supporting staff and serving community residents as they tackle new projects.

McDowell, a 12-year Seaside resident, started working as Public Works director in November. He is filling the role formerly held by Neal Wallace, who retired in June. Wallace served the city for about 17 years.

McDowell brings to the job about 40 years of experience in the construction industry. Most recently, he worked for TFT Construction, a full-service contractor based in Scappoose. Prior to that, he worked for a contractor based in Astoria. He has experience working on buildings; roads; wastewater and storm systems; water lines; and water treatment and sewer treatment plants.

McDowell oversees a staff of 19 from the engineering, water, sewer and streets and parks departments. He also works with the Seaside building and planning departments on several projects.

He plans to bring more projects to the table and write grants to get funding to accomplish those projects.

“We have a long, long list of projects,” he said. The city has to decide which “ones to take on at a time because of funding.”