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Director’s Report: 

    Danbury’s Public Works Department is comprised of several divisions which ultimately provide for the core of the services that the residents and taxpayers receive. These divisions include Engineering, Public Buildings, Public Utilities, and now a year old, the Public Services Division which consist of Parks Maintenance, Highway, Forestry and Vehicle Maintenance. The Construction Services Division, which was also part of last year’s re-organization, has had a great first year and is a division that have created substantial savings on our construction projects. Together, these divisions make up one of the most diversified Public Works Departments in the State of Connecticut with a work force totaling 146 employees. In the summer months, the employee population reaches over 160. The division heads and middle management staff are well experienced in their respective fields and work well as a team. They truly have helped the director in achieving the goals of this Department form its initial reorganization three years ago.

About Us: 

    The Public Works Department manages approximately $30 million dollars in the delivery of their services to the public. These divisions, working together under the leadership of the Public Works Director and the supervision of the City Engineer, Superintendents of Highway, Public Utilities, Public Buildings, Construction Services and other supervisors, are responsible for the control and maintenance of all city owned or leased structures. This includes the planning, engineering, operating, construction, reconstruction, altering, repairing, maintaining, cleaning, lighting and continual inspecting of highways, sidewalks, curbs, storm and sanitary sewers, municipal water distribution systems and reservoirs, public buildings, heavy and light construction equipment and motor vehicles, parks, recreational fields and playgrounds, and the preservation, care and removal of trees within the city’s public right of ways. 

    The Director and these division managers are accountable for the performance of their departments, and the effective and efficient spending of the taxpayers’ money. The management structure of the department, overall, is flat with only one level of managers below the director. The balance of the management team consists of field personnel, lead personnel and foremen. The director is hands-on and often is in the field with his managers and staff. 

    The administration of the responsibilities of the Public Works Department is very complex and challenging. The director strives to create a team approach to carry out all of the tasks that the department must perform. The director knows that motivating and coaching is the key to a successful department. The director also recognizes that providing the support and the tools that the division heads need is very important. The success of the department is largely attributed to the men and women who perform the work and deliver the services to the taxpayers. The director strives to create a working environment for his division managers and general work force that is based on teamwork, respect, loyalty and accountability. This is a work environment that provides for division managers and their work force to do their best.

Our Accomplishments: 

    All divisions of the Public Works Department had major accomplishments in the 2009/2010 fiscal year. None of these accomplishments would have happened if it was not for the support of the other city departments and Mayor’s Office. They provide the operational support that allows us to execute our work. The director continues to be actively involved in the day to day activities of the various divisions including the design and construction administration of all of the city’s capital projects. One of the final pieces of our department’s reorganization was the purchase of additional heavy equipment which would allow us to create a third construction crew in the highway department, and implement more in-house work. Other than the purchase of a few large trucks we have implemented this last piece. 

    The Construction Services Division has had a significant impact on our ability to stretch the capital dollars that Public Works has to perform. This division works and implements construction of projects, much like a private general contractor would. We have drastically reduced the need for outside construction management of smaller projects and perform construction of these projects in-house by using our in-house staff and equipment. The Supervisor of Construction Services works with other Division Managers to create in-house construction crews in order to complete work assignments. This work must be balanced with the regular routine maintenance that these divisions perform. This division also uses our on-call contractors to perform work on larger projects. By utilizing this method of performing construction work, we can save a tremendous amount of money, and perform the work in a fraction of the time. 

    The department performed an incredible amount of preparation work and the rebuilding of several fields for the Nutmeg State Games. The games were well attended and the Nutmeg Games’ staff felt we provided them with some of the best playing fields and city staff they have ever had. The biggest compliment they could pay the department was an immediate request to come back the following year. 

    The Public Works Division participated in the NIMS 700 training through the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security because it has been determined that public works departments could play a major role in emergency situations. The Association of Public Works Professionals of the Housatonic Valley has been working with DEMHS to secure additional training and equipment. In the event of an incident in Danbury, it is the Public Works Divisions that would have to provide support to the primary responders and the critical infrastructure needs which are vital to the community. 

    The director also implemented the annual Public Works Awareness and Employee Recognition Day as part of celebrating National Public Works Week. This event was well attended and provided for more team building, not only between divisions but with other city departments as well. The event was also attended by several residents and almost 180 grammar school children. Besides the team building theme, the event is geared to bringing an awareness to the resources that exist in the City of Danbury Public Works, the staff that makes it all happen, and career opportunities that the Public Works industry can provide to young men and women. The event will be held again and we hope it will be even more of a success. 

    Goals for the coming year include a concentrated effort to perform more work with less. Based on where the economy is, and may be heading, along with the reality of our cuts in the operating budgets, the director has prepared his division heads for what will be some of the toughest times that they have faced in their careers. It would be very easy for the director to announce reductions to the level of services that the department currently provides, but instead he and his division heads have found ways to keep trying to deliver the same level of services and programs by performing more in-house work. The director has also empowered his division managers and their immediate staff to look at more cost effective ways to perform work. All new ideas are being considered and analyzed, much like a private business would. 

    The Public Works Director continually talks to other municipal public works professionals to share experiences and success stories. The director lets his staff know that his personal goal is to have his department provide a legacy of making decisions, implementing processes and procedures and caring for the city’s infrastructure in a way that will provide meaningful, long lasting contributions and a positive influence on the lives of our residents and the culture of Danbury.