Lawrence’s longtime city engineer Terese Gorman is leaving City Hall to take a similar position with Douglas County.

Gorman is leaving the city engineer position after 21 years to become the new engineering division manager for Douglas County Public Works.

The change comes at the same time the city has hired a new assistant director of public works.

Public Works Director Chuck Soules confirmed that Dena Mezger, the city engineer for Lee’s Summit, Mo., will begin work in that new position Jan. 17.

“She has a lot of experience and a lot of energy,” Soules said of Mezger. “She seems like she would be a real good fit for the staff and the community.”

Soules said Mezger will oversee efforts to improve the city’s street pavement and will be responsible for overseeing the design and engineering process for city streets.

Gorman’s position of city engineer will be filled, Soules said, but its responsibilities will change to focus more on traffic engineering issues, stormwater design and other nonstreet infrastructure.

In her new position at Douglas County, Gorman will be doing much of the same type of work that she did for the city, which involved design of streets, bridges and other projects. She’ll oversee a staff of 13 engineers and technical positions, said Keith Browning, director of Douglas County Public Works.

“Terese was really perfect for this position,” Browning said. “We were looking for somebody who had significant experience overseeing technical people and who really knows the business of roads.”

Gorman said she was looking forward to beginning work for the county in mid-January.

“I was just looking for new challenges and new opportunities,” she said.