1. May 7, 2015 Contact: Eric Vreeland
865.215.3480 Office
865.258.3431 Cell
ENGINEERING PLANNING CHIEF WRAPPING UP
WIDE-RANGING CITY CAREER
In his more than 27 years as a City of Knoxville engineer, Brent Johnson has
seen and done it all.
He’s designed new roads, managed the paving of existing roads, overseen traffic
functions and surveying crews, protected the Turkey Creek wetland, and demolished the
U.S. Pavilion to make way for World’s Fair Park improvements. He administered the
Streetscapes upgrades on Main Street, the first Five Points Streetscapes improvements,
and much of the Third Creek Greenway construction. He even added illuminating lights
to the Henley Bridge.
But his biggest impact was as the City’s point person in implementing first-time
stormwater regulations – requirements of the 1987 amendments to the U.S. Clean Water
Act, which Knoxville enacted by ordinance in the late 1990s.
For the first time, developers were required to prevent surface pollutants from
washing into drainage systems, creeks and rivers. New permits and inspections were
needed. The new regulations were contentious.
“By far, it was the biggest challenge in my career at the City,” said Johnson, the
City’s Engineering Planning Chief. “It’s been a long hard road, but we’re seeing the
rewards now. Stormwater regulation has been the most difficult thing I’ve done – and the
most rewarding.”
Johnson’s boss, Engineering Director Jim Hagerman, described the then-new
regulations – and Johnson’s efforts to spearhead their enforcement – as a fundamental
reorientation that signaled significant public health benefits and environmental
improvements.
“We’re enjoying cleaner water and better drainage systems today because of the
regulations painstakingly shepherded by Brent over many years,” Hagerman said.
Johnson in early July will wrap up his long City career. He’ll start a new chapter
in the private sector as the senior project manager directing water resource efforts for
Vaughn & Melton Consulting Engineers.

2. Johnson currently serves as the Tennessee delegate to the National Society of
Professional Engineers and leaves the City as NPSE has named him as a Fellow in
recognition of his service and professional contributions – making him just the 16th
NSPE
Fellow in Tennessee.
Ask him about his contributions, and he’ll cite common-sense delivery of cost-
effective services as a lasting legacy of the Engineering Department.
“I’m most proud of the value that we’ve added to the services that taxpayers
receive,” Johnson said. “Some people know me for my work over the past two decades
in stormwater, but I consider myself a municipal engineer, first and foremost. We’ve
worked hard to eliminate waste and provide good services.
“I really appreciate the support and help received throughout my career from
Mayors, City Councils, City staff and the public that made possible the advancements in
clean water, as well as these public service improvements.”
As part of overcoming the challenge of implementing first-time stormwater
regulations, Johnson in the 1990s initiated a Developers’ Design Workshop. It grew into
a partnership with the Tennessee Stormwater Association two years ago; last year, the
partnership presented the East Tennessee Development Symposium to more than 380
attendees.
The City has never received a Notice of Violation from the state of Tennessee for
any Natural Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program violations – a fact
that Johnson sees as a measure of his department’s solid work.
Johnson also designed Hinton Road, and he added Henley Bridge decorative
lights prior to a Vince Gill concert on a floating Tennessee River barge.
But it was the planning to protect a vulnerable species – the flame chub, a
brightly-colored minnow-like fish – that once posed a challenge to the engineering
planning chief.
“We had to balance new development at Turkey Creek with preservation of the
wetlands,” Johnson said. “I think we got that balance right.”
Christi Branscom, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy to the Mayor, said she’ll
miss Johnson’s deep institutional knowledge, as well as his penchant for spirited
discussions as strategies are hammered out.
“Brent takes his work very seriously – he can be very focused and intense,”
Branscom said. “He’s been someone I’ve relied upon whenever there’s a serious issue
to be resolved. I learn something from Brent every time we interact. We wish Brent all
the best in the next stage of his career.”
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