Bill Oakes has been building things for as long as he can remember.

In college, radio-controlled airplanes held his fascination, and the act of bringing many pieces together to form a functioning whole fueled his passion for something greater — engineering.

“That it started out as a box of wooden parts, that’s cool for me,” said Oakes, public works director and county engineer for Island County.

“It’s that moment when the airplane runs down the runway and takes off.”

The moment when each part comes together to work in harmony, that is engineering for Oakes, and it’s what he loves to do. It’s also what the County Road Administration Board, known as CRAB, is honoring Oakes for, and not for the first time.

Like clockwork since 1967, CRAB awards the County Engineer of the Year of Washington State to one individual each year. The award is highly competitive, with 39 “areas” eligible to submit nominations from county commissioners; the nominees are evaluated based on a long list of qualifications, according to CRAB Executive Director Jay Weber.

These areas include management skills, public relations, engineering expertise, community activities and involvement, and work done for the Washington State Association of County Engineers. It was Oakes’ performance in each area that first earned him the award in 2008, and again this year.

“Mr. Oakes of Island County has brought representation of all these criteria, and actually this is the second time that Bill Oakes has won this award,” Weber said. “I think it shows some very strong and continual support … there in Island County.”

Oakes began working for Island County in 2001 as public works director before also taking over as county engineer in 2006. Throughout his time with the county, he has continued to add new hats to his metaphorical wardrobe. In addition to county engineer and public works director, Oakes is also the parks director and emergency works director.

Within these roles, Oakes oversees all county roads, parks operations, drainage and storm water operations, solid waste operations and all county trails.

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson said it’s unusual for a person to win the honor twice.

“It’s such a competitive award,” she said. “I think it just speaks to his leadership.”

While Commissioner Rick Hannold filled out Oakes’ nomination, all of the commissioners are excited to see Oakes’ day-to-day work recognized at the state level, Johnson said. That Oakes is being honored for a second time demonstrates that his standard of work is truly exceptional, Johnson added.

“Bill is really a good example of how important leadership is at the local level and also the fact that it doesn’t always have to come from your elected officials,” Johnson said.

“It’s the leadership team that you have around you is really what is the corner stone of the county’s success.”

Still, the award only further motivates Oakes to continue working harder, because working for the county is all about serving people and doing the best job possible for Oakes.

“I found that through my career the best way to advance was to do my job I had to the absolute extreme best of my abilities,” Oakes said. “So that’s sort of my work ethic, to do the absolute best that you can.”

When Oakes isn’t working to ensure Whidbey and Camano Islands have the best roads in the state, he can be found traveling along those very roads by bicycle.

“Something that’s unique about me as a public works director is I’m a bicycle commuter,” Oakes says. “There are some weather constraints, but I try to ride every day and I average about 3,000 miles a year on my bicycle.”

Oakes also still builds radio-controlled airplanes, though he says now most people just buy airplanes already built.

“There’s something in the engineering, in building it into something and it flies,” Oakes says.

“Going from a rubber-band powered airplane when I was younger to something with a motor in it and radio-controlled now, it’s rewarding.”

For Oakes, engineering is a progression toward something that works better. And for the county, Oakes continues to strive for an infrastructure that serves his community.