Public Works: Maintenance & Field Operations Division

The Maintenance and Field Operations Division of the Public Works Department is overseen by the Director of Public Works and is responsible for the routine maintenance of Town streets, median islands, parking lots, drainage ways, flood control pump stations, lagoons and marshes. A significant amount of attention is paid to the Town’s storm drainage system including maintenance, cleaning, storm preparation, and emergency response during storms. Also, staff is responsible and takes great pride in maintaining the Town’s parks and community gathering areas (Town Park, Menke Park, Cove Park, Skunk Hollow Park and Granada Park), and the landscaped areas surrounding Town-owned facilities and roadways.

In addition, staff is also responsible for maintaining the Sanitary District No. 2 collection system, which consists of gravity sewers, forcemains, and pump stations; although regular maintenance of the SD2 pump stations is delegated to Central Marin Sanitation Agency (CMSA) staff.

Over the past several years, the Maintenance and Field Operations Division has made significant strides to further their knowledge, training and expertise. The team obtained new or expanded training and experience in several sanitary district related functions; closed circuit television (CCTV), confined space entry, flushing of sewer lines, sewer system overflow response, Vac-Con operation, and the SL-RAT (a tool used to rapidly detect if there is blockages within sewer lines). The team has also become proficient in using Innovyze, the District software and tracks and inputs their field data into the software database to assist with sanitary network decisions relating to the capital improvement program and maintenance schedule needs. The maintenance team continues to build on their expertise with this SD2 GIS database and we’ll continue that moving forward. Several employees have obtained various Wastewater Certification, which provides a benefit to the District by having more qualified and experienced personnel.

The maintenance team has also supported the Engineering staff as it performs updates to the Town’s Storm Drain Masterplan and the Districts’s Sewer Master Plan, which are documents that will guide the decision making process for each entity for the upcoming decade. In addition, the maintenance staff will assist and support efforts to better document and potentially modify approaches to vegetation management, in particular in our public parks.

Maintenance and Field Operations will continue to invest in the career growth and development of our existing staff through formal training, cross training and exposure to new construction techniques and methods with help from the Engineering staff and neighbor agencies. Staff members will have the opportunity to shadow other personnel and will be encouraged to obtain various certificates to expand their skillsets and knowledge base. An overall emphasis across the division will be dedicated to improving the organizational systems by documenting various steps and procedures and improving succinct communication through written methods to track and document deliverables and progress more effectively. The team will also continue to invest in sanitary district training, maintenance and use of our specialized equipment to systematically identify and prevent sanitary system malfunctions.

Staff will also work with Parks & Recreation and sports field stakeholders, to enhance the fields as part of a “pilot” maintenance program. Staff will also be challenged to expand their ability to problem solve straightforward and medium complexity community issues with minimal involvement from the Engineering Division.

• Continue to focus internal operations and continue to improve productivity and efficiency through teamwork, cross training and accountability.
• Invest in career growth and development of our employees.
• Continue to proactively work with community members to problem solve issues with minimal involvement from the Engineering Division.
• Implement additional sports fields enhancement “pilot” measures.
• Continue stormwater improvements as required by the State, while looking for ways to improve maintenance on the medians and parks, along with ADA improvements in the parks, along sidewalks and in town facilities.
• Expand the use and familiarity with Innovyze, the District software database.
• Invest more time and expertise to monitor and proactively prevent sewer system malfunctions.
• Implement a more robust Pump Station maintenance program.
• Train staff on upcoming changes at the State Water Board level, with regards to Sewer Management Plans and sewer “spill” reporting.
• Work toward having a full team of active staff members.

Services and supplies include storm drain and flood control services, tree services, signal maintenance, street light maintenance, storm water services, storm drain services, pump station maintenance and landscaping; specialty sanitary district equipment (Vac-Con, SL-RAT, CCTV) and emergency parts; training and education; generator maintenance; building maintenance; vehicle maintenance; tennis court maintenance; playground maintenance; other maintenance including bridge, stairs, paths, and bus stops; utilities; materials and supplies including tools, safety supplies, clothing and uniforms and other department supplies.