By Dan Parker
dan@portasouthjetty.com
Port Aransas City Manager Michael Kovacs has announced that he is resigning his job to take a post as assistant city manager of Park City, Utah.
Kovacs issued a news release shortly after a joint meeting of the Port Aransas City Council and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission wrapped up about 9 p.m. today, Thursday, Nov. 5.
Kovacs said he and his family are looking forward to their anticipated move.
“Park City is the premier U.S. ski tourism destination and has an international reputation for having the best powder snow in North America, if not the world,” Kovacs wrote in the release. “I’m very excited to get a chance to contribute to the city there.”
Kovacs said his contract requires that he provide at least 30 days’ notice, which would mean that his last day at work in Port Aransas would be Dec. 5. However, he said he plans to ask the council’s permission to leave just before Thanksgiving.
Kovacs, who has been city manager of Port Aransas for nearly five years, was chosen from about 200 applicants for the Park City job.
Park City has a population of about 8,500, but the town serves more than 20,000 people in the entire area with a transit service. The community hosted some of the winter Olympic games held in Utah in 2002.
Kovacs said he has enjoyed working in Port Aransas. He said he “improved the city’s relationships within the region, with state and federal agencies and … worked closely with the business community and chamber of commerce to assist them in increasing tourism.”
Among other developments during Kovacs’ administration were initiation of street and drainage system improvements developed from two major bond elections netting more than 75 percent voter approval, and a major streets project paid for with cash. The projects totaled more than $10 million worth of work.
Kovacs also presided over upgrades of public safety services and emergency preparedness. The work “vastly improved capabilities and positioned the city for readiness to handle day-to-day and large-scale emergencies,” he said.