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Public Works = Public Safety By Chuck McCollough
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THE SCHERTZ PUBLIC Works Department never stops working. Or so it seems. In a 33-square mile city with 33,000 residents there is always some municipal component that needs attention. From asphalting a street to zeroing in on underground water main breaks, PW crews seem to be all over the place fixing, repairing and building the City of Schertz. In reality, Public Works is a public safety department like police, fire and EMS. From roads people drive on, to the water they drink, to the drainage system that keeps them safe in a super heavy rain, Public Works touches their lives everyday in almost every way. PW Director Sam Willoughby and Assistant Director Jimmy Hooks have been with Public
Works for more than 20 years. They said two of the department’s biggest challenges are state and federal regulations and delivering the same top quality level of service residents received when the city was smaller and demand was less. “There are a lot more regulations now than in the 1980s, for instance,” Willoughby said. “Back then the city only had to take 10 water samples a month (to monitor for safety). Now we do 40 a month. The bigger a city gets the stricter the rules and regulations it has to follow.” Hooks said Public Works’ core job of keeping city infrastructure working and improving pays off in more than just high quality city services. “Having a really good water pressure (important for fire fighting) is important because it is used as
measurement for setting the city’s excellent bond rate,” he said. The better the bond rate the better the interest rate a city gets, based on measurements like water pressure. Today, the Public Works Department is responsible for 130 miles of paved streets, 192 miles of water main lines, 84 miles of sewer main lines, 10 miles of underground storm sewer lines , 27 miles of right of way mowing and 141 miles of drainage ditch mowing. But things were a lot different just a couple of decades ago. “When I started here in 1987 the population was about 10,000,” Willoughby said. “Now it is three times that and there are more roads, more water lines, more drainage area, more sidewalks, more of
everything.” Hooks was hired by the City in 1989 when there wasn’t a Public Works Department by that name. “The water and wastewater (sewer) was under one department and streets and parks operations under another. Later we had water, sewer, streets, parks and animal control all under Public Works,” he said. And still later, parks and animal control were broken out from Public Works and the modern era of PW in Schertz was off and running and hasn’t slowed down yet. Public Works works in concert with other city departments like Development Services and Parks and Recreation to deliver the best city services possible. Hooks routinely sits in meetings with Development Servic-
es staff as they visit with homebuilders and subdivision developers. “Jimmy reviews every plat construction plan looking at their plans for streets, water and sewer to make sure they meet city specs,” Willoughby said. PW often coordinates with the Marshal’s Office to remove debris from condemned or abandoned properties and also on water conservation matters. PW is also guardian of the city’s most important infrastructure, streets. The department prevents utilities - like cable, power or communication companies - from making helter skelter street cuts to repair their equipment and then sloppily patch the cut in a way that allows water seepage and road degradation. “We require the utilities to use proper fill material on the street cut and then pave five feet in both directions from the street cut for best integrity of the repair,” Hooks said. City streets are PW’s meat and potatoes item and for good reason. “Where there is a street there also is a water line and possibly a drainage area. All those things are interconnected and affect each other if there is a problem one. We are responsible for keeping them working right so the city can keep on the move,” Willoughby said. Speaking of moving, PW’s fleet division works on more than 130 city vehicles with license plates (including fire trucks and ambulances) and scores more off road vehicles like backhoes and tractors.
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PW also has two meter readers who handle 12,000 water accounts. They used to read the meters by hand but new technology continues to speed up the readings and their accuracy. SCHERTZMAGAZINE.COM MAY 2012
And the PW crews can even be seen after big city events like parades and the Wilenchik Walk for Life and Doggie Dash. They clean up after the parades and walks and have the streets looking normal in short order. And they spring into action with Parks and Recreation staff after big events like Jubilee in summer and Festival of Angles in winter to put the parks back to normal in no time. Here is a list of some of the many PW duties: Water Department: 1. Repairs water service and main breaks 2. Installs new service for new customers. 3. Takes monthly Bacteriological samples 4. Flushes dead-in mains and fire hydrants monthly 5. Maintains fire hydrants in working conditions for use by fire department.l 6. Installs water mains for small projects 7. Maintains booster pumps at pump stations 8. Complies with all state regulations regarding potable drinking water 9. Assists customers with water questions
Wastewater Department:
1. Maintains the city’s sewer collection system to be free flowing. 2. Remove obstructions in the collection system when found 3. Maintains 14 sewer lift stations. 4. Repairs sewer breaks. 5. Installs new sewer services. 6. Assist customers with sewer issues.
Street & Sign Department: 1. Maintains the city’s street and sign division 2. Repairs failing streets by overlaying or total reconstruction 3. Repairs potholes and street cracking by patching and crack sealing 4. Repairs failing sidewalks. 5. Operates street sweeping program 6. Constructs and installs all traffic control signage on city streets. 7. Operates and maintains the traffic control lights on Schertz Parkway 8. Operates and maintains the school zone flashing signal lights 9. Traffic count surveys
Fleet Maintenance: 1. Maintains and repairs all City owned vehicles including: a. Police Cars b. Fire Apparatuses c. EMS Vehicles d. Public Works Trucks e. Parks Trucks f. City Administration Vehicles g. All backhoes and Loaders h. All Tractors used for mowing i. All lawn maintenance equipment (weed eaters, chain saws etc..) j. Street maintenance equipment k. State inspections l. Flats and new tire change outs m. Installs emergency lighting, and equipment
Drainage Department: 1. Mows City ROW’s for undeveloped land (roadways) 2. Mows drainage ditches 3. Maintains drainage channels to be free of obstructions that might cause flooding, silt removal, erosion control 4. Mows alleyways 5. Trims trees within the City ROW and drainage channels 6. Repairs drainage structures 7. Ensures that Storm Water ordinance is followed
Public Works Infrastructure Inspection Department: 1. Monitors all construction involving Public Infrastructure on City and Private subdivision development projects to include: a. Water lines b. Wastewater lines c. Streets & Curbs d. Street Signage e. Drainage system 2. Requires testing on all aspects of construction such as: a. Density testing for street construction b. Water samples for new water mains c. Hydrostat testing new water mains d. Sewer testing to include mandrel, air pressure test and vacuum testing of manholes
Water Utility Billing and Meter Reading Department: 1. Reads all 12,000 plus water meters with radio read system 2. Assist customers with billing and meter questions 3. Bills for water, sewer, drainage and garbage for all customers 4. Takes payments 5. Turn-off and turn-ons residents moving in and out 6. Calculate Sewer Averaging 7. Takes in payments for other city departments MAY 2012 SCHERTZMAGAZINE.COM
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