The city of Pleasanton recently decided to merge its Operations Services and Engineering departments into a unified Public Works Department as a way to optimize staff’s time in maintaining the city’s infrastructure, according to city officials.
The department will now be responsible for the “operations and maintenance of the city’s infrastructure and administers many quality of life services,” according to the city’s website.
“A comprehensive organizational assessment validated that a growing amount of the city’s work is shifting toward operating and maintaining existing city assets and infrastructure and that merging the Operations Services and Engineering departments into a unified Public Works Department is how cities similar to Pleasanton most effectively deliver services, projects and programs,” City Manager Gerry Beaudin told the Weekly in a statement on Oct. 26.
He added that the new Public Works Department’s goal was to increase the partnership between both of the prior departments, which carry out various city services.
These services include operations, maintenance, utilities, environmental services, customer service and billing, landscape architecture, land development, engineering and inspection.
According to its website, the Public Works Department more specifically provides services such as maintaining the Callippe Preserve Golf Course, graffiti removal, tree maintenance and removal permitting, street maintenance, street sweeping and traffic control systems.
It also maintains the parks and trails, provides public landscaping, takes care of water distribution and sewer collection, maintains the storm drainage systems, takes care of utility billing, provides weed abatement, maintains city buildings and vehicles, and works on the recycled water and water conservation programs.
“As a group, these employees are taking care of the infrastructure and amenities that make Pleasanton a well-regarded community,” Beaudin said. “This new department structure will help the city deliver this important work more effectively.”
The department is currently led by Norm Dorais, as interim public works director.
