New BDS director tapped from city’s Public Works office 

Martin Gugel, a professional engineer and a 17-year employee of the city of Springfield, has been named the city’s new director of Building Development Services, effective Oct. 20. 

Gugel comes to the position from his nine-year role as assistant director of Public Works. He also served as the interim director of BDS following the resignation of Brock Rowe. 

Rowe departed from BDS directorship in July to take a job as development director in Oklahoma City. 

Gugel began with the city in 2007 as a traffic engineer in charge of the Traffic Operations Division. He was appointed to assistant director of Public Works in 2015. 

According to the announcement by the city, in Gugel’s previous role, be provided oversight of the Project Management team at Public Works, with four divisions, 25 employees and a $25 million annual budget. 

There, he led the departments of Public Works and Environmental Services in their reaccreditations by the American Public Works Association in 2017 and 2021. The announcement notes that fewer than 1% of public works departments in the United States have achieved this accreditation. 

In his new role, Gugel will earn an annual salary of $185,066 to oversee a department with 42 employees and a $4.4 million budget, according to city spokesperson Melissa Haase. There were 34 applicants for the position. 

The BDS director position has seen high turnover in recent years. Rowe held the role from November 2022, after eight months as interim chief, until his departure in July. Before Rowe, Dwayne Shmel was director from 2020 to 2022, and he followed Harlan Hill, who served starting in 2018. Before Hill’s tenure, Chris Straw held the position for eight years. 

Gugel said he intends to stick with the role. 

“I’ll still be in the same building with people I’ve worked with for almost 18 years, so I’m still part of that family,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed my employment with the city and all the different roles I’ve been able to fill. I’m not planning on going anywhere.” 

The philosophy of the department is to approach property owners, point out issues and the ordinances that match up to them, and in many cases help them find resources to address issues. 

According to the BDS website, the department implements and monitors city, state and federal codes. It issues permits for all phases of building construction, implements building code and zoning, monitors demolition and movement of existing buildings, and certifies trade crafts, including electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical licenses. It also implements floodplain ordinances, inspects buffer yards and implements dangerous building codes. 

One thing he is looking forward to is the hiring of a code enforcement investigator, a new position established by Springfield City Council earlier this year. 

He said hiring is a challenge. 

“Each one of the work groups has at least one vacancy,” he said. “Since I’ve been down here since July, we’ve been able to fill a couple of those, and we were working yesterday to fill another one.” 

Gugel said one of his goals is to work effectively with the development community. 

“We have people who are wanting to invest in our community, and it’s important for us to provide the best customer service we can and do everything we can to help them be successful,” he said. 

That can be a moving target, he said, citing as a benefit software that allows all departments to collaborate and provide feedback to developers, but noting that’s only part of the solution. 

“There’s glitches, things that break, things that evolve,” he said. “There are changes in the market and the way projects are approached. You always have to make tweaks to accommodate those, and there are always going to be little hiccups.” 

As far as blight, a key focus of BDS, Gugel said progress has been made, but there is always more work to do. 

“From the standpoint of people and funding, there’s not enough of either when you compare it to the list of needs,” he said. “We’ve taken steps, created or modified processes, and we’re moving the needle in the right direction, but there’s still a ways to go.” 

Gugel earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology, then joined the Missouri Department of Transportation, Southwest District, as construction inspector. He joined Anderson Engineering as an associate engineer in 2002, then joined Global Link Land Surveying & Engineering as a principal engineer in 2005. 

City Manager Jason Gage, who this morning tendered his resignation, effective early next year, praised Gugel for his proven management and administrative skills. 

“He has done an excellent job as interim BDS director for us,” Gage said in a news release. “We look forward to his long-term leadership in this permanent role.” 

Digital Editor Geoff Pickle contributed to this story.