BATAVIA, Ohio — For nearly four decades, Wayne Smith has been the man behind the scenes keeping Batavia’s streets plowed, its curbs picked up and its potholes patched.
The Village of Batavia is spotlighting Smith, its longtime public works superintendent, in the latest installment of “Serving Batavia,” an ongoing video series profiling the people behind village services, according to a post from the village.
Smith has served the village for 39 years, the village said. A Batavia resident who raised his children in the community, he now leads the four-person crew responsible for the day-to-day maintenance that keeps the village running, according to the post.
That work includes street maintenance, snow removal, street cleaning and seasonal brush and leaf collection, the village said. According to the village’s public works page, the brush collection program runs from April through early October, with branches up to 4 inches in diameter accepted curbside by the first Monday of each month. Leaf collection runs on Mondays from mid-to-late October through early December.
“It is steady, mostly unseen work, and it touches every street in the Village,” the village said in its post thanking Smith for his service. “Thank you, Wayne, for nearly four decades of service to Batavia.”
Batavia serves as the county seat of Clermont County and had a population of 1,972 at the 2020 census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Batavia.