Brick Public Works Employee Receives State Honor

BRICK, NJ -- On a Friday night in May, when most folks were starting to get into weekend mode, John Koester was still hard at work.

The Brick Township public works employee was at Lake Riviera Middle School, where the township’s annual Senior Prom -- for its senior citizens was being held.

Koester’s responsibility on this night had been to put up lights to make sure the pathways at the school were safer for the senior citizens who were attending the event.

“But when I got to the prom toward the end of it,” Mayor John Ducey said, ”John was there, walking the seniors out, helping them to their cars.”

It’s just one example of the ways Koester goes well beyond his job duties to serve the residents and the township of Brick, Ducey said last week as he and the Township Council presented resolutions honoring Koester for his work, and for his selection as the Public Works Employee of the Year by the New Jersey chapter of the American Public Works Association.

Koester also has been responsible for developing and managing the buses that deliver residents to and from SummerFest each year that have been a key element of managing the event’s popularity while not excluding residents who want to participate.

“John’s commitment to the job and his professionalism and commitment to his community are an example for younger workers,” Ducey said.

“He continually goes well above his duties,” Ducey said.

(Photo: John Koester, right, accepts resolutions thanking him for his work from Mayor John Ducey and Council President Paul Mummolo. Credit: Karen Wall)