Senior planner leaves city for Georgia job

The former Springfield senior city planner for the Neighborhood Conservation Office Oct. 31 took over as planning director for the Central Savannah River Area Regional Development Center in Augusta, Ga.

“My duties will be providing comprehensive planning and code writing services to a variety of communities in the area,” Lentz said about the 13 counties and 41 municipalities he will serve.

In Springfield, Lentz worked for six years in the Planning and Development Department’s Neighborhood Conservation Office, which “creates neighborhood plans, develops policy to address neighborhood issues, fosters neighborhood organization, serves as a liaison between citizen and city departments and promotes neighborhood beautification,” according to the city’s Web site. Lentz’s outgoing salary was $52,769.

Brendan Griesemer, Neighborhood Conservation Manager and Lentz’s former supervisor, said senior city planner Alana Owen will move from the Development Review Office to replace Lentz.

“I’m very excited (about the move),” said Owen, who has worked for the city for five years and earned a bachelor’s degree in community and regional planning from Missouri State University in 1999. She said she wouldn’t move until her replacement is found. That search is in progress.

Meanwhile, Griesemer said Lentz would be missed.

“Christian really developed a good rapport with the neighborhood organizations that we work with,” Griesemer said. “And really, to his credit, the whole neighborhood assessment process that we’ve undertaken really came from his effort.”

The city’s neighborhood assessment program makes suggestions for infrastructure improvements, housing services and assistance programs based on workshops involving local residents. Reports are compiled and sent to City Council for approval.

Lentz, who earned a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Clemson University in 1996, said he and his wife wanted to move to be closer to family in Florida and South Carolina.[[In-content Ad]]