A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Dan Komenda

Dan Komenda’s road to becoming the Field Forces Superintendent for the City of Portage began in 2009 when he joined the engineering department.

“I came here because they wanted me to oversee and run the Stone Avenue project, which was a really, really big project because it went all the way from County Line to Willowcreek. We redid the whole road and did all this storm work, so there was a lot of work. It was a two year project,” he said.

This project further prompted Komenda’s career within the city, as he then started working on and overseeing a variety of storm projects for Portage, eventually getting involved with the sanitary department as well.

“I would work mostly on storm stuff. I would go out and take residents' complaints about water complaints or there's any sinkholes, make sure they would get fixed, and things of that nature. I did that for a couple years, and then I actually was overseeing the stormwater plant,” he said.

At this time, Komenda worked under Don Slawnikowski, the plant superintendent, and his assistant Dave Littleton. When Slawnikowski retired, Komenda was able to work his way up to the assistant superintendent, and a bit later, took on the superintendent title.

“Don was actually overseeing this department and the plant and then Dave was the assistant superintendent, and I was underneath them, still kind of doing all the storm stuff at that time, and started getting into the sanitary side once I was in that position. Don later stepped down, and then Dave was the superintendent and then I went to assistant superintendent. Then about two years ago, Dave left and then I became superintendent. So that was basically my path to where I am now,” he said.

Komenda enjoys that he gets to help Portage residents through a line of work he’s always been passionate about.

“It's really nice to be out in the field and take care of these issues and know that all our daily maintenance of everything is helping to promote all our stuff as far as drainage for water and then the movement of the sanitary through the lines that go all the way to the plant,” he said.

Komenda also has always been an avid supporter of Portage athletics. His three kids have been involved in a multitude of Portage sports growing up, and Komenda wanted to coach alongside them to cheer them on and bond with his kids. Komenda has coached Portage youth basketball for 14 years, girls youth basketball for five years, three years for Pop Warner football, and one year for youth traveling soccer. There was even one point where he was coaching three basketball teams at the same time.

“I wanted to be a part of my kids' life, and I wanted to be involved with them. I wanted to make sure they were involved in things important in that too, so I donated my time, and it was really nice,” he said.

Coaching sports has allowed Komenda to meet and form lifelong relationships with kids and their families and said it's a humbling experience watching the kids become adults over the years.

“I've met some great people along the way,” he said. “I met some great kids along the way. What's really crazy is that years later, I'll run into kids I used to coach and they’ll say, 'Hi,’ and now these kids are taller than me.”

Even though Komenda has now hung up his coaching hat, he still loves keeping up-to-date with Portage sports to cheer on some friendly faces.

“I'm always looking at names because some of the kids I coach have kids in it now or even the kids I used to coach are now involved in it, so I always pay attention to Portage sports. I'm always looking at the papers to see how the wrestling team is doing and how the basketball team is doing, and also the football team.” he said. “I played sports all my life too. I still get chills sometimes when they start running out in the field. It was really cool. When some of the kids go out there and play at the high school, sometimes I can say, ‘I coached that kid.’ So, that’s always been neat.”

Komenda has always been big on spending time with his family, and is always up for an outdoor adventure. He enjoys taking them camping, with one of their favorite spots being Lakeview Campground in Rochester, Ind. They also enjoy visiting camping sites in Michigan and Kentucky as well. He also loves other activities that keep him out and active in nature, such as hunting and fishing.

“That's what I like to do. I was raised that way, so it just kind of continued on, and it’s been nice to be able to get out and do all of this,” he said.