Water Resources

Lynn Smarr

Lynn is the Acting Director for the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources. Prior to her role as Acting Director, she was the Assistant Director for the department. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in civil engineering. Lynn began her career with Gwinnett County as an engineer in 1987. She has worked in the Engineering and Construction Division during her career with Water Resources and has managed significant projects that have greatly impacted the County's current infrastructure. Some of the major projects Lynn has managed include: Shoal Creek Raw Water Intake and Pump Station, 72" Raw Water Pipeline Corridor, and Upper Chattahoochee Interceptor and Tunnel projects. She is an active member of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals and the American Water Works Association. She has worked for Gwinnett County for 21 years.

Frank Stephens

Frank has been with Gwinnett County since 1996. Prior to coming to Gwinnett, he worked for water and sewer utilities in Arkansas and Colorado. Previously, he worked for a state environmental regulatory agency and for a large environmental consulting firm in California. He is an alumnus of Leadership Gwinnett and the Regional Leadership Institute. He is a past president of Toastmasters and has presented papers on Gwinnett's advances in environmental stewardship at national conferences in Europe and Asia. Frank holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, a master's degree in environmental engineering, and a master's degree in public administration. He is currently pursuing his PhD in public administration at the University of Georgia. Frank and his family live in Gwinnett County near Lawrenceville.

Peter Frank

Peter began working for Gwinnett County in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Corporate Controller for OFS, Fitel, a manufacturer of fiber optic equipment, and before that he held senior financial leadership positions with three large high technology manufacturing companies. Peter earned his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Syracuse University in 1980 and his Masters of Business Administration degree from The Florida Institute of Technology in 1986.

Tyler Richards

Tyler began working for Gwinnett County in mid-2001. Prior to coming to Gwinnett County, she worked for the City of Atlanta where she managed the wastewater treatment facilities and pump stations. She also managed wastewater treatment plant studies and design projects and a multi-juris-dictional watershed study. She began her experience in environmental and water resources engineering in 1982. She has a master's degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech and a bachelor's degree in biology from Rollins College. Tyler has published numerous papers on operations, management, and process control. She has also held many positions and received awards from the Georgia Water and Pollution Control Association and Water Environment Federation for service and significant contributions in wastewater operations.

Ron Peters

Ron began his career with Gwinnett County in 1984. Prior to that, he worked for the City of Atlanta Water Works Engineering Division as a draftsman. Ron has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mercer University. He also has a Certificate of Local Government Management from The University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals and the American Water Works Association. He directly managed county construction contracts as well as private development water utility construction when he started with Gwinnett, and has served in such roles as Senior Construction Manager, Development Manager, Planning Division Director, and currently as Deputy Director. Ron was literally born into the water business, growing up in a city-owned house located on the property of one of the City of Atlanta water treatment plants where his father was the director.

Steve Leo

Steve began his career as an Environmental Health Officer for a small shire in Australia, before commencing work as an environmental regulator for Australia's largest municipality, Brisbane City Council. While with Brisbane City, Steve was involved in the regulation of environmentally relevant activities. Steve moved to the United States in 1999 where he commenced work with County's Stormwater Management Division. Between 1999 and 2007 he oversaw the development of the County's Industrial Inspection program and managed the County's response to various federal, state, and regional stormwater planning mandates. He also assisted in managing the County's newly formed Stormwater Utility. In late 2007, he commenced work as the Stormwater Division Director.

Conrad Gelot

Conrad, a registered Professional Engineer, has been with Gwinnett County since 1998. He has bachelor's degrees in computer science and in engineering from UNB and York University, and a master's degree in public administration from Queen's University. Conrad is a graduate of the Gwinnett LEAD and EXCEL programs. Before joining Gwinnett County, he held various positions with government and provincial agencies in Ontario, Canada including Program Advisor with the Interim Waste Authority and Engineering Manager with the Ontario Clean Water Agency. His career has spanned mining and ore processing, solid waste management and water and wastewater regulatory approval, infrastructure design, and construction, and he has led the development of Gwinnett's reclaimed water reuse program.

Holly Elmendorf, P.E.

Holly joined Gwinnett County in early 2000. Prior to coming to Gwinnett, she worked for the City of Atlanta where she most recently served as Manager of the Technical Services Branch of Wastewater Services. Technical Services included a variety of support services groups including engineering, research and development, process control, inspection and monitoring (industrial waste pretreatment program, inter-jurisdictional flow monitoring (industrial waste pretreatment program, inter-jurisdictional flow monitoring and grease program), and laboratories. She began her career in 1976 in environmental and water resources engineering working for state government, consulting engineers, and local government. She is a 1975 graduate of Duke University with a double major in economics and French. She earned a second undergraduate degree in civil engineering (BCE) at Georgia Tech where she was honored as the class' Outstanding Woman Engineer. She earned a master's degree in environmental engineering at Georgia Tech and is a registered professional engineer in Georgia. She has been active in the Georgia Association of Water Professionals and has served on and chaired various committees, and is a past chair of the Georgia Section of the Water Environment Federation. She is currently serving as one of Georgia's delegates to the Water Environment Federation, a national association for water professionals. She has received awards for her service in fostering the development of water professionals in Georgia.

Neal Spivey

Neal has been with Gwinnett County since 1986 as Director of Water Production. Prior to coming to Gwinnett, he worked for the City of Atlanta Water Department for 20 years in various operations and laboratory capacities. He has been a certified Class I Water Treatment Plan Operator since 1972. He is a native Atlantan and a graduate of Georgia State University. He is past president of the Georgia Water and Pollution Control Association, the Georgia Water Wise Council, and past chair of the Georgia Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Since 1992, Neal has been active in AWWA's Water For People program, helping to provide safe drinking water to communities in Honduras. He is also a member of the Water Environment Federation and the International Ozone Association. He has received numerous awards from both state and national organizations for his work in the field of water supply. He lives in Hall County.

Richard Schoeck

Rich has been with Gwinnett County since 2001 and is currently the Division Director of Engineering and Construction for the Department of Water Resources. His engineering career started with a private water utility (Continental Water Company) at St. Louis County Water Company in 1987. He then moved to the Florida Keys to work for the government water utility called the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority in 1990. From there he took a job with Avatar Utilities in their Indiana subsidiary in 1992. This private utility was acquired by American Water Works Company (which owns and operates over 900 utilities in 23 states) in 1994 and Rich worked as an Operations Engineer for them until 2000, at which time he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to be close to family. He spent a little over a year working with HDR as an Engineering Section Manager before coming to work for Gwinnett County as a Chief Engineer. Rich is a graduate of the Gwinnett LEAD program and a Georgia registered Professional Engineer. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri and he lives in Gwinnett County.

Jeff Boss

Jeff started working for Gwinnett County in 2008. His engineering/construction career has been varied with opportunities in both the public and private sector. He started his career in 1981 as a process engineer on a 55 MW electric blast furnace, has owned and operated his own construction company as well as worked for a large Midwest multifamily development company. He has also been a County Highway Engineer, County Engineer and Director of General services in several municipalities. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1981 with an engineering degree and is a registered Professional Engineer in several states. He is a 2007 graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Government County Administration program. He is happy to be back home in Georgia and lives in Dacula.

Richard Platto

Richard has been employed with Gwinnett County since 2005. Prior to his current position of Finance Manager in the Business Services Division of Water Resources, he was the Capital Budget Manager in the Budget Division of Financial Services. Prior to his employment with Gwinnett County, he held various finance and accounting positions at companies such as Deloitte & Touche, Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., Cox Communications, Inc, and Siemens Energy & Automation. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration, with a major in accounting, from Georgia State University. He also is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the state of Georgia. Richard is a native of Atlanta and has lived in Gwinnett County for nine years.

Adam Minchey

Adam has been with Gwinnett County since 1990 and has served as Director of Engineering and Construction since 1999. Prior to coming to Gwinnett County, he worked in the United States Peace Corps/Honduras, where he managed the Municipal Development Program in Choluteca, the country's third largest city. Before joining the Peace Corps, he had held numerous positions in the engineering and construction field since 1979. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Georgia. He is fluent in Spanish. He lives in the Buford area.

George Kaffezakis

George has been with Gwinnett County since 2002, serving much of that time as Chief Engineer, responsible for the design and construction of water and sewer assets. In his current position he is tasked with developing an integrated Asset Management Program. Prior to joining Gwinnett County, George was responsible for the design, permitting, construction, and operations for landfills in the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico as a consultant and owner. He started his engineering career as a geotechnical engineer, designing dams and foundations for commercial structures. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech and is a Professional Engineer in Georgia. He is fluent in Greek. He lives and has served on various committees in the Berkeley Lake community of Gwinnett County.