‘The Beetle’ is Bailing: Sartell Public Works Director John Kothenbeutel Set to Retire in April

(KNSI) — Sartell’s public works director will be giving himself a special 30-year work anniversary present in April: Retirement.

When John Kothenbeutel started as a laborer in the 90’s, the population was barely 5,000. He talks about the expansion since then.

“If you want to use logistics, anybody knows where city hall is… everything west and north of there, there was nothing. All of Pinetree Pond, the Wilds, all the way out there. That was all farm fields when I started.”

He originally attended St. Cloud State University, before transferring to St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Sartell was his first employer out of school. Kothenbeutel worked his way up through the department’s wastewater treatment plant.

He became assistant public works director in 2005 and took over as director in 2016. He oversees 18 full-time staff in the streets, parks, and water utilities divisions.

Kothenbeutel says his schedule will stay filled when he steps down later this year. “Our family owns land up in Onamia. We slotted off a couple of acres last year and we built a house this summer. So, we’re living up there and do a lot of gardening. We fish up by Mille Lacs Lake a lot and hunt. We have grandkids, so they’ll keep us busy.”

No replacement has been hired yet, but Kothenbeutel’s successor should be able to ease into the position. Mother Nature is helping out, as the mild winter has kept the department from being bogged down with snow plowing. He says the next major summer road construction projects are not scheduled until 2025.

Kothenbeutel’s stamp on the city will remain long after he has headed for the deer stand on his wooded property. The city council named a road after him in 2022. Beetle Boulevard runs between Scout Dr. and Roberts Rd. past a busy Coborn’s location and House of Pizza.

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