Chris J. Melville, City Manager/Director Community Development.

Chris is a lifetime Wendover resident, his family roots going back to the 1930’s when the community was just a small stop on a lonely highway across the Great Basin Desert . He was born in 1969 and raised with three other brothers graduating with honors from Wendover High School in 1987. Chris attended Utah State University receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace with a Minor in Business Management in 1992. Chris is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensed certified flight instructor and a commercial pilot and has a strong love of flying and for the profession of aviation in general. Upon completion of his degree, Chris returned to Wendover and opened his own aviation business (Icarus Aviation, Inc.) at the Wendover Airport , Wendover , Utah and was subsequently appointed the Manager of the Wendover Airport , becoming the youngest airport manager in the United States at the age of 22. In 1998, Chris was employed by the City of West Wendover , Nevada within its Engineering Department and within a year was appointed as the Director of the City’s new Community Development Department. Later, Chris was promoted to the position of Assistant City Manager and in 2002 was appointed as the City Manager, the position he holds today. As a life time resident of Wendover, Chris holds a unique prospective on the community which he has seen grow from a small community of 500 for the most part located in Wendover, Utah, to today; two communities Wendover, Utah and West Wendover, Nevada boasting a growing population of over 7,000. Chris holds a high vision for the community, which has been fostered by his own dreams and by his experiences and those of his community. This vision includes a place where the commerce, industrial and tourism base is such to provide employment opportunities of a variety to all, a destination for the visitor where they can be entertained, catered to and brought to know and experience the relaxation of mind, body and soul while being witness to some of the worlds greatest desert landscapes and most beautiful sunrises and sunsets on earth. A community who’s grown children chose to stay in or return to because of its immense opportunities and sense of home. A city, that provides a quality of life for everyone to enjoy with every amenity but a community, which retains a small town feel and one of a welcoming village.  This is what Chris remembers so well growing up. A place where your neighbor just isn’t thefamily next door, its your whole community and your friends don’t include just your community, they include those who visit as well.

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