02-07-2025
LeBrun honors Clyde Willis; building dedicated to his accomplishments
As most people closed the month of June with business as usual, Scioto County Engineer Darren Lebrun accomplished a task he said may seem small to some but was very important and meaningful to him. That task was honoring former Scioto County Engineer Clyde Willis.
LeBrun has been productive as a county engineer, being aggressive in grant writing and planning; his work keeps infrastructure development ongoing and busy in summer months while keeping maintenance of winter conditions effective during cold months. Recently, however, he worked on a side project that dedicated a Scioto County building in the name of someone who did all this before him.
'On June 24, we dedicated our garage, and named it after, Clyde Willis. He was a previous Scioto County Engineer from 1991 to 2008,' LeBrun explained. 'One of the reasons we did this was because Clyde was a transformational engineer. He got our in-house crews way more productive than what they used to be, as far as doing elements of work in-house on our own.'
The respect LeBrun has for the former engineer is obvious when he speaks about him. He quickly has facts and details of the man's accomplishments committed to memory, as if he were reading from a long, impressive resume.
'The chipseal program was moved in-house under Clyde. He started the precast bridge program, where we built concrete bridge beams and building bridges by county crews. He started building trucks, as far as getting a truck ready for work,' LeBrun recalled. 'We would get a flatbed, or something like that and turn it into a dump truck at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost the county to buy a brand-new dump truck.'
LeBrun continued listing off accomplishment after accomplishment, some of which may seem small to some people, but make a major difference in his work today.
'He started the outpost program,' LeBrun said. 'We have outposts in Nile, Minford and Wheelersburg. Clyde set up these outposts for us to store materials, like salt and gravel, and we don't have near the travel distance from where it is being applied and saves a lot of time and resources.'
Some of the work Clyde accomplished also served property owners more directly and provided help to other departments in Scioto.
'He created our digital tax maps, as far when you go online today and view GIS, those property lines you see used to be on paper. Clyde worked with the Commissioners back in the 90's to make that all electronic with aerial photos for people to see where their properties extend and who is next to them,' LeBrun recalled. 'That was a big deal for the county, because those paper maps are just woefully behind as far as details. It really straightened up a big problem the county had at the time.'
According to LeBrun, at the time of speaking with the Daily Times, he didn't have grant totals for Willis's tenure, but it was substantial as another engineer who is aggressive in seeking extra dollars to subsidize county budgets. However, Lebrun did mention that Willis was able to replace 134 bridges and 194 large concrete culverts.
'His accomplishments were big and, as such a transformational engineer, he deserved the recognition of having his name on the building,' LeBrun stated. 'He actually had the building that is now named after him built back in 2004. This is similar to what they do at the state fair, where they name buildings after former Governors. I thought it was fitting to have this building named after him.'
LeBrun officially named the building, with support of the Scioto County Commissioners, after Willis. He also erected a sign that outlines many of the former engineer's accomplishments while in office. To celebrate, his office had a dedication ceremony.
'We had a small, closed ceremony. We had engineering staff, Clyde, friends and family,' LeBrun said. 'Several of the guys we have today are here because Clyde hired them back in the day. It was great. You could tell Clyde appreciated it. It kind of took some of us back to the days when we worked for Clyde. I worked with him back in the late 90's. It brought back a lot of memories as we celebrated everything he has done for the county. He is a good example to follow as far as following priorities and growing opportunities for Scioto County. A lot of the programs we do today are programs he started or at least laid the foundation. He is deserving.'
