Youngstown contractor new Latrobe public works director

A local native whose company has handled tasks for gas and oil companies, railroads and the Westmoreland County Airport Authority will take on a new assignment next week, for the city of Latrobe.

Scott A. Wajdic of Youngstown is scheduled to begin work Monday as Latrobe’s new public works director. He succeeds Michael Gray, who resigned for personal reasons Oct. 18.

A 1980 graduate of Greater Latrobe Senior High who later studied environmental science at Westmoreland County Community College, Wajdic has operated his own company, Loyalhanna Environmental Services, since 2002. He’s also worked since 1994 as a foreman for several construction companies and, since 2018, as a superintendent for Plum Contracting.

Wajdic decided to apply for the public works position at Latrobe because “everything that it requires is experience I’ve gained over my past and present jobs,” he said. “I thought I would make a good fit for it.”

Council members who interviewed about eight finalists for the job concurred.

Councilman Eric Bartels was impressed by “the number of years he had of experience in contracting work. He had a very clear understanding of equipment and how to operate the equipment and experience in operating his own business and managing employees. He knew his business very well.”

Bartels pointed out winter street maintenance will be among Wajdic’s concerns in the months ahead, as well as ongoing management of the city transfer station and planning for replacement of equipment as it gets older.

At Latrobe, Wajdic will receive a salary of $65,000.

Through his company, he said, he has employed up to a dozen workers and has hired subcontractors for projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to $2.5 million.

As he takes on his new role with the city, Wajdic said he will appoint someone to handle oversight of his company’s remaining projects.

“We do different facets of construction work, not just environmental work,” he said.

Projects he has worked on for the local airport authority include making runway ramp repairs and installing a beacon light. Railroad tasks have included cleaning up after a derailment in the Butler area.

Most recently, he said, he’s corrected drainage problems around gas and oil pipes.