Public Works Week – What is Public Works?

Another week, another chance to celebrate our wonderful City staff! This week is Public Works Week and we’re excited to take a look at one of the City’s largest departments.

Public Works’ role is to develop and maintain the city’s infrastructure. The department describes its mission as “. . . to enhance and sustain the livability and quality of life for citizens in the community of St. Helens . . .” Public Works is organized into five different divisions. Those divisions are Engineering, Parks & Recreation, Wastewater Treatment, Water Filtration, and Public Works Operations. Each division handles its own part of the City’s infrastructure:

Engineering oversees planning, design, inspection, and project management for the City. They oversee projects from start to finish and perform construction inspections throughout. Planning also reviews permits and keeps maps and drawings of the city up-to-date.

Parks and Recreation perform maintenance on St. Helens' 13 parks. They respond to emergencies such as downed trees and perform improvements throughout the year.

Wastewater Treatment treats waste from both St. Helens and Columbia City. It also treats waste from local industries. Along with the Treatment Plant, the division maintains nine sewer lift stations and one stormwater lift station in town.

The Water Filtration Division provides fresh, reliable, high-quality, filtered drinking water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Operations & Maintenance Division works out of the City Shop. Its crews perform a wide variety of behind-the-scenes duties on a daily basis. They complete upgrades, maintenance, and repairs to the streets, storm drains, sewer, and water systems throughout St. Helens. They provide many of the services required to keep our community running smoothly.

The jobs that Public Works does fall into three categories: operations, events, and projects. Operations consist of maintaining essential systems, permit processing, daily operations, and plan reviews. Events include everything from decorations for Halloweentown to unexpected weather events like snowstorms. Projects include major capital improvement projects like the ongoing McCormick Park Playground upgrades and the recently completed North Vernonia Road Sidewalk Project.

By the numbers, The Public Works department is responsible for approximately:

• 98 miles of roadway & 47 miles of sidewalk.
• 3 signalized intersections
• 85 miles of water mains
• 60 miles of sanitary sewer
• 50 miles of storm sewer, culverts, and ditches
• 9 Sewer pump stations
• 1,720 sewer manholes, cleanouts, and other sewer structures
• 2,662 catch basins, storm drain manholes, and other storm structures
• 7,376 fire hydrants, water meters, and water valves
• Between 6 and 10 million gallons of treated waste water per day
• As much as 6 million gallons of drinking water per day
   

With its five divisions, many responsibilities, and over 25 employees, we mean it when we say Public Works is one of our largest departments! While we're just scratching the surface here, this week we'll get to know the ins and outs of Public Works. We'll take a closer look at how much they do for the City and what the day-to-day operations look like. Stay tuned for more!