By Debbie Robinson

news@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. — The city of Miami didn’t have to look far to find a new licensed city engineer.

Miami resident Jack Dalrymple has been hired to fill the position that was vacated with the departure of former engineer Jerry Ruse.

Ruse left his Miami position July 10 to accept a similar job in St. Charles, Mo., where Miami’s former city manager, Michael Spurgeon, holds the city manager’s job.

Ruse had served as Miami city engineer the past six years.

Interim City Manager Tim Wilson said Thursday that the city is fortunate to have an experienced engineer such as Dalrymple interested in the job.

Dalrymple also will serve as the city’s flood-plain administrator.

His annual salary will be $100,000, and he will report to the city manager, Wilson said.

Wilson said Dalrymple brings a wealth of experience to the job.

Dalrymple, he said, formerly worked as a hydrologist for the Army Corps of Engineers and previously was with Bell Contracting, an engineering firm, as a project manager. He has been serving as the chairman of the Ottawa County Flood Plain Board, Wilson said.

Mayor Brent Brassfield said the hiring of Dalrymple is an “exciting” hire for the community.

“He’s a longtime area resident,” Brassfield said. “It’s kind of relief for me.”

City officials had been studying the feasibility of hiring a private consulting firm, but the cost was excessive, Brassfield said.

“He (Dalrymple) is a licensed engineer, which for a city our size is virtually impossible to get,” Brassfield said.