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OMI, the private firm which performs public works operations for the city, has terminated its contract to provide the city a public works director, citing “recent events and staffing changes” as reasons for its withdrawal. OMI’s main contract with the city will remain in effect, however.

OMI project manager Todd Hunt, who has doubled as the city’s public works director for about a year, will continue as project manager for OMI, serving directly under the new public works director.

“OMI is very acute to managing their responsibilities,” City Administrator Bob Farley said Wednesday. “Because of promotions that took place internally Todd didn’t have an assistant to do day-to-day recovery and project activity, so they felt it best that Todd move back into the position as project manager.”

Councilman Mark Stewart said the new director should also have management experience, in the event OMI ends its main agreement with the city or should the city do the same. Currently, OMI manages all public works-related city departments and the public works director oversees OMI.

“In the climate that we’re in right now I don’t think that we can limit it just to engineering experience,” Stewart said at a Tuesday city council meeting. “I’m not saying OMI’s going to pull out tomorrow but they could.”

Stewart said Wednesday he had no reason to anticipate OMI’s withdrawal, but said the city needed to be prepared for any contingency.

Councilman Bennie Thomas said he preferred to hire locally.

“I’m just tired of the fact that every time a position comes up somebody comes from way down south or up north and we don’t even know anything about them,” Thomas said. “I trust my local people better than I do anybody else that I don’t know anything about.”

The new public works director will be required to have at least five years experience in municipal capital projects and experience in related public works operations, or a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or a related field with two years experience in public works projects. Salary will depend on the applicant’s qualifications.

Farley said a salary range will not be set. However, he said his research showed that salary ranges for public works directors in South Florida were between $74,000-$106,000.