Don Fontana is the Jefferson City storm water engineer and floodplain administrator for the city's public works department. He has been in that position for 7½ years.
"Well, I was born in Colorado and moved here in high school and have been in the Central Missouri area ever since," Fontana said. "We have a farm, and I like to hunt and fish when I can, when I have time. And I like to spend time with my family."
He is a part of the crew to help repair the city's 145 miles of storm water pipe, 12½ miles of improved channels and the 13,000 storm water structures in the ground. The street division of public works maintains the structures, but Fontana is the person to call if something is broken.
Every year, public works ranks the complaints they receive and come up with a list of storm water projects they design and then bid out to help improve the city's storm water systems. These systems help drain the excess rainwater or snow melt after inclement weather.
As a floodplain administrator, Fontana makes sure the city and its residents meet flood codes.
"There is floodplain all throughout Jefferson City, and if somebody wants to develop or add on to a structure, there are flood code requirements," Fontana said. "I meet with them and kind of talk about what they can and can't do ... We document what we approve, and I am not aware of anybody that has applied for a permit that has not done what has been required of them."
People sometimes don't realize the amount of regulations that come with construction or improving property, Fontana said. If the city does not keep up with the code, he said, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Flood Insurance Program can cause everyone's insurance rates to increase. Also not being up to code can cause damages to property, and once the damage happens, the property owner may not have much luck filing an insurance claim, Fontana said.
He also keeps the city in compliance and files the annual reports for the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer permit that is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency and administered by the Department of Natural Resources.