Page 14 - Mar-Apr2022 Vol39 No7

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN By Lisa H. Skinner
Women in PW: Loretta Hopper

After working for a decade in the All public works departments are under New Machinery Maximizes Efficiency
Western U.S. Loretta Hopper found one roof: Streets, Sanitation, Stormwater, She’s also grateful for the ability
her way to Tennessee twenty years ago, Fleet Management and Administration.” to invest in new machinery that
putting down her roots in the Town of Hopper said all of the Public Works maximizes the departments’ capabilities.
Signal Mountain, and, as she puts it, staff “had an opportunity to be involved Approximately four years ago, the Town
“meeting some incredible people in the in the process, providing input on invested in two hook-lift hoist system
Public Works world and making many building and site layout. Our goal was to trucks with automated leaf machines,
good, good friends.” provide an appropriate facility and site 16-foot dump beds and a slide-in brine
In Arizona, she worked eight years in that addressed public work’s needs, was system. Hopper said these trucks “have
the engineering department of a town of well-organized and professional. Being added considerable versatility to the
around 30,000 people. Yet she also saw under one roof has also helped us to department.”
the “other side” of project work as an work better as a team. As a team, we can “The automated leaf machines have
employee at private engineering firms plan our work and work our plan.” greatly increased our efficiency in leaf
in that state, as well as in Texas and
Tennessee.
Prior Experiences Brought Well-Rounded
Perspective
Hopper’s varied experience and civil
engineering background in both private
and government roles gave her a well-
rounded municipal perspective when
she became Public Works Director in
Signal Mountain 16 years ago.
As a woman in a management
position that’s traditionally been
viewed as male-dominated, she feels it’s
important for women to know about
such opportunities in Public Works,
“because It can open the door for so
many different career paths that they
may not have known existed. These
careers can be extremely fulfilling and
rewarding.”
At Signal Mountain, she oversees
15 employees in the recycle, street
and sanitation departments, and is
in charge of pavement management
and maintenance, as well as the
town’s solid waste collection and
disposal. Stormwater, fleet maintenance
and State Street Aid projects also
fall under her direction. She was
instrumental in getting the town’s
Stormwater Program started and in
continued compliance.
New Public Works Facility Brings Together
Departments, People
She’s proud of the town’s recently-
consolidated Public Works facility,
in which five years ago, “we built a
6,850-square-foot steel constructed
building with 3,250-square-feet of office
space, that included a three-bay garage.

14 TPW March/April 2022