By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When Engineering Technician Salamatullah Sayeed looks at Queen Creek, he said he sees a community with enormous potential for growth and development. Those were things he also said he saw for himself with the opportunity to work with the town’s Development Services department.

“Queen Creek is a community growing at a very fast pace. With my academic background and experience, I felt I had a lot to offer and saw a great opportunity to be part of that expansion,” Sayeed said.

Since joining the town staff in January 2013, Sayeed has taken on a number of responsibilities. He reviews engineering plans and retention basins, issues encroachment permits, and works with custom home and general subdivision developments issuing permits throughout the construction phases. He works closely with Engineer Marc Palichuk, Senior Inspector Todd Sautter and other divisions to ensure operations run smoothly.

Sayeed received his bachelor’s degree in engineering in 2008 from Arizona State University. His previous work experience in the private sector and with the city of Tempe’s Public Works Engineering Division make him instrumental in the town’s efforts to be responsive to customers, according to Development Services Director Chris Anaradian.

“Sayeed is part of our next generation of technical specialists who will help us increase the quality of life for all in Queen Creek as the town experiences the next leap of growth and development,” Anaradian said. “He is providing the kind of added value that prevents problems from happening when they are on paper, before becoming costly delays on a construction site. Everyone benefits from that kind of assistance.”

“Having professional individuals like Sayeed working for our community makes us stronger as a town and a more appealing place for developers to build quality projects,” said Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney. “We’re fortunate to have such qualified staff whose attention to detail is unwavering.”

Sayeed says the biggest challenge he’s faced since starting with the town was beginning work on a number of subdivision projects already in progress while still becoming familiar with the layout of the town. He says he is also looking forward to future projects he will have the opportunity to assist on, including working towards town plans for a possible hotel and public transportation.

“There’s lots of variety with my job that I really enjoy,” Sayeed said. “I like being able to take on multiple tasks and no two are the same, so I’m constantly interacting with different people. It keeps my job from being repetitive.”

Settling into his new position, Sayeed said one thing he has observed and enjoyed most about being part of the town staff is the dynamic among employees and their ability to work closely as a team no matter which department they belong to.

“With every department in one building and working so closely together I think it has a positive impact on the town,” Sayeed said. “It seems that everyone shares the same vision of where we want Queen Creek to be five, 10 years from now. We have people who have come from other places and know the challenges growing communities encounter and how to best deal with them and then there are people who have been here for a long time that really understand the community and can share their knowledge.”