Baldwin County Engineer Cal Markert announced his resignation during last week’s Baldwin County Commission meeting, with Markert saying he would be vacating his position Feb. 28.

Markert said he felt blessed to have been given the opportunity to work for the people of Baldwin County and took time to praise the other employees in the Highway department. “The people in the Highway department are second to none,” Markert said. “I don’t know how I got the opportunity to be able to work here, but I’m thankful for it.”

Markert was at the helm of the department for several large projects, including the Beach Express and the numerous projects that happened as a result of the April 2014 rain event. When the commissioners were asked to vote on the item that would approve Markert’s resignation, all of them had nothing but praise for the departing employee. “We hate to do this, but it’s in Cal’s heart and he wants to do this for him and his family,” Commissioner Skip Gruber said. “Thank you, Cal, for all the years you put in for this county.” Commissioner Frank Burt said he would definitely miss Markert, a man he’d come to know as a friend. “You seem to bring calm to the office,” Burt said. “I personally can’t say enough about the emptiness you’ll leave in this county when you’re gone.” Commissioner Tucker Dorsey said he felt Markert was an ideal county employee. “We have a lot of good people working for this county, but there are few people that have a servant’s heart like you do,” Dorsey said. “You are just what I call ‘one of the good guys.’” Commission Chairman Chris Elliott said it was easy to look back and see the mark that Markert made on the county. “You have left an indelible mark on this county,” Elliott said. “You helped head up $20 million worth of drainage improvements that are just finishing up now and you’ve helped developed the best relationship this county has ever had with the state’s Department of Transportation. Your ability not only to deal with the four of us, but your counterparts in municipal governments and the state - you’ve handled that all with grace and poise and passion.” Market will be leaving Baldwin County to become the Director of Roads and Transportation for Jefferson County, which will allow him to be closer to some of his family. Upon Markert’s departure, Joey Nunnalley will be named Interim County Engineer and Frank Lundy will become the Assistant County Engineer.