City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: MAY 17, 2022 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: PUBLIC WORKS WEEK 2022
ISSUE:
Recognize the department’s employees and their efforts.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council receive and file this report and presentation.
BACKGROUND:
Each year the American Public Works Association promotes National Public Works Week. This year, Public Works Week is May 15th to the 21st and the theme is “Ready & Resilient.” The APWA celebrates that, “Public Works team members are always ready to serve their communities, and resilient as ever in their abilities to pick themselves up off the ground after encountering challenges.” DISCUSSION:
The Public Works Department is responsible for delivering many of the core services that residents and businesses rely on daily. From providing clean, safe, and well-maintained roadways to handling the disposal or reuse of solid waste and wastewater, our staff of 264 are dedicated to providing the highest level of service possible, 365 days a year. During this time, we would like to recognize the efforts of our employees who are the backbone of our department responding to over 53,000 service requests annually providing services in:
Engineering Field services Wastewater
Capital Projects Graffiti Abatement Biosolids Disposal Engineering Design Landscaping and Trees Cogeneration Land Development Public Parking Collection System
Surveying Solid Waste Environmental Compliance
Traffic Management Street Maintenance Treatment Services STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
As a Department, Public Works makes meaningful contributions to all six Strategic Priorities. In particular, Public Works makes significant contributions towards Strategic Priority 5 – High Performing Government: Provide world class public service that is efficient, accessible and responsive to all and Strategic Priority 6 – Infrastructure, Mobility & Connectivity: Ensure safe, reliable infrastructure that benefits the community and facilitates connection between people, place and information Furthermore, the department aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The Public Works Department endeavors to involve the community in its work through inclusive engagement efforts and is responsive to community requests for service.
Equity – The Public Works Department has assisted in bringing millions of dollars in grant revenues to fund infrastructure projects in disadvantaged communities.
Fiscal Responsibility – The Public Works Department relies heavily upon leveraging existing resources towards grant funding opportunities, for example, $250,000 of the limited sidewalk installation budget was recently leveraged to secure an additional $250,000 in SB 821 grant fund.
Innovation – The Public Works Department has recently installed new bicycle facility types, covered stormwater channels to provide pedestrian walkways, installed an award-winning stormwater diversion facility, and developed unique pedestrian & bicycle master planning documents, amongst other innovations.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The Public Works Department works to ensure newly-installed infrastructure and preventative maintenance practices will help Riverside to remain resilient in the face of rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Prepared by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director
Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Presentation
Public Works Week 2022 ● Page 2