Laramie names Jay Smith as new public works director

Jay Smith will take over one of Laramie’s most visible departments, with responsibility for streets, utilities and water infrastructure that residents notice when work stalls or service breaks. The city announced Thursday that Smith will become public works director, replacing Brooks Webb after Webb’s 14 years at the helm.

Smith is not coming in from outside City Hall. He joined the City of Laramie in 2023 as natural resources administrator, where he managed municipal ranches and the city’s water rights on the Laramie River. He later moved into the utility water treatment and production administrator role, putting him closer to the city’s drinking water system and the infrastructure that keeps it moving.

Before Laramie, Smith worked for the Wyoming Water Development Office and the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in rangeland ecology and watershed management from the University of Wyoming, a background that fits the water and source-protection work he has already handled for the city. City materials also listed Smith in connection with the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan steering committee, another sign that water policy has been central to his work.

The promotion gives Laramie continuity at a department that touches daily life in a lot of ways. Public Works covers fleet services, solid waste, street maintenance, utilities and water-wastewater services, while the city’s Engineering Division oversees the design and construction of infrastructure projects and says its responsibility is to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public. That means the new director will be in the middle of road work schedules, capital-project timing, water reliability and the pace of repairs when problems show up.

The transition also closes a long chapter for Webb, who previously served as Laramie’s solid waste manager before becoming public works director. The city said he was moving to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he will become public works director there. Cocoa Beach’s public works department handles streets, parks and grounds maintenance, and, because of its coastal setting, beach access areas, dune crossovers, sidewalks and bikeways.

Smith and Webb were both part of a city work session on April 24, 2026, where they presented on water planning, including the Water Availability Operation Plan, drought and mitigation factors, and current infrastructure improvements. The city’s FY27 public works budget presentation also described the department as stretching across the General Fund, SPET, Capital Construction and all three enterprise funds, underscoring how much of Laramie’s day-to-day operations now rests with Smith as he takes the job.