Free sand is available for residents at the city garage on Newtown Rd but only may be picked up in 5 gallon buckets.
For any service requests please contact CityLine 311 available 24-7 via live chat, email ([email protected]), or phone (203-744-4311).
About Us
Danbury’s Public Works Department is comprised of several Divisions which ultimately provide for the core of the services that residents and taxpayers receive. These Divisions include Engineering, Public Buildings, Public Utilities, Construction Services and the Public Services Division which is Parks Maintenance, Highway, Forestry and Vehicle Maintenance. Together, these divisions make up one of the most diversified Public Works Departments in the State of Connecticut with a workforce totaling 140 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 of responsibility and work well as a team.
The Public Works Department managed approximately $35 million dollars in the delivery of their services to the public and capital projects. These Divisions, working together under the leadership of the Public Works Director/Acting City Engineer, Superintendents of Public Services, Public Utilities, Public Buildings, Construction Services and other subordinate supervisors, are responsible for the control and maintenance of all City owned or leased structures and the balance of the City’s infrastructure.
The Public Works Department operates under very tight budget constraints. In FY 2017/2018, the total funds allocated to Public Works to perform all of their annual programs, deal with all of the storms that hit the City, maintain all of the public buildings and schools, maintain all of the parks, beaches, playgrounds and school grounds and right-of-way grass islands, maintain all of the roads and bridges, decorative lights in downtown, maintain the multi-million dollar fleet of vehicles and heavy equipment is only 4.1% of the total allocated budget of the City. In addition, with this low funding level, we also pay for all of the fuel that the other departments use, the electric bill for the street lights for the entire City, maintenance, and repairs for the large fleet of police vehicles and all of the utilities for our public buildings exclusive of the schools.
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 all 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 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 be the best at what they do.
Similar to last year, the goal for 2018/2019 includes a concentrated effort to perform more work with less. The Department is prepared to deal with some of the budget and personnel cuts this year and will strive to deliver the same level of services as last year. The department must look at new ways of performing the same old tasks. The Director has empowered his Division Managers and their immediate staff to look at more cost-effective ways to perform work. All new ideas are considered and analyzed, much like a private business would.
For six years, the initiative to sell millings has generated some revenue and is a practice that will be continued when millings are available. To date, we have taken in $109,232 on a product that we would usually have had to pay to dispose of.
The Public Works Director is very active in his field and continually talks to other municipal public works professionals to share experiences and success stories. He has actively chaired the Association of Housatonic Valley Public Works Professionals and is the chairman of ESF3 Public Works Committee for Region 5 for the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The Director is a member of the working group for the Western Council of Government’s Regional Snow Plow Study. 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 the residents and the culture of the City.
Accomplishments
All Divisions of the Public Works Department had major accomplishments in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. None of these accomplishments would have happened if it was not for the support of the other City Departments and the 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. This past year the Public Works Department was proud to administrate several projects. The following is a summary of some of the projects:
• Phases 1 – 6 of the Danbury High School Addition and Renovations project are substantially complete.
• Successful completion and dedication of the Memorial Park on Main St. and the Soldiers Park at Main and West Streets and Heritage Walk at City Hall.
• Reclaimed, milled and paved 7.71 miles of City roads
• Re-beautification and Fitness Trail at Rogers Park Pond completed
• Successful completion of the Westville Avenue Improvement Project
• Completion of the 1M gallon storage tank at WestConn Pump Station site
• Roof replacements were completed at Broadview Middle School, the Old Quarry, and 15 Main St.
• Managed the design of the sewage treatment plant upgrade valued at 110M.
The Highway Division, while scheduling and completing all of their various annual programs, as well as responding to storms and storm clean up, resurfaced 7.71 miles of city roads in 2017, eliminated 4 icing issues, replaced or repaired 210 stormwater catch basins which included over 2,310 feet of new drainage pipe, replaced/repaired 2 storm drainage culverts, and 1 headwall, all performed by utilizing in-house construction crews and sub-contractors.
Once again, the Construction Services Division has had a significant impact on our ability to stretch our capital dollars. 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. We are doing the core project management for the Jefferson Avenue Bridge Replacement, Still River Channel and Restoration of the Octagon Projects.
The Public Buildings Division was able to respond to all work orders. For a small staff, these mechanics have done a tremendous job keeping up with work orders and responding to emergencies.
The Public Utilities Division has been inundated with compliance reporting requirements to various state and federal agencies. The superintendent and his staff have kept the sewer and water infrastructure up and running while providing the lowest user rates in the State. Significant time and resources have been spent on the issue of phosphorus removal at our sewer treatment facility as it relates to our permit and the science used to set the limits by DEEP.
The Public Works Division participated in additional training through the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The Association of Public Works Professionals of the Housatonic Valley has been working with DEMHS to secure additional training and equipment. This year the Director was actively involved in securing a portable, generator-powered light tower for regional use. The Eleventh Annual Public Works Awareness Day, as part of celebrating National Public Works Week, was held on May 16th. This event was well attended and provided for more team building, not only between divisions but other City departments. The event was also attended by several residents and over 100 grammar school children. Besides the team building theme, the event is geared to bring 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. I want to personally thank my management team and their staff for their patience and steady effort in getting the City through the yearly programs with less staff and other critical resources.