Public works employees go about their duties with little fanfare

In the hierarchy of local governments and the services they provide, public works may be the department least acknowledged or noticed - at least when things are flowing smoothly.

By the same token, though, no other municipal department may handle as broad a range of responsibilities, many of which are delivered with little fanfare.

A city’s public works department keeps the city flowing, literally when it comes to services such as water and wastewater, and figuratively when it comes to tending parks, maintaining streets, replacing street signs, picking up fallen tree limbs and so much more.

The work accomplished by the department is vital to keeping the city running smoothly and looking good, and is instrumental to public safety.

In Gustine and Newman, those duties fall to well-trained public works staffs whose duties can change from one day to the next, based on what each day brings.

And if nobody takes notice, well, that’s considered a sign of a job well done.

“When nobody notices us it’s a good thing because it means we are doing our job,” said Garner Reynolds, director of public works in Newman.

Their job, he said, is to make sure the water and sewer systems are kept safe for the public and running efficiently and that city streets, parks and facilities are well-maintained and safe for use.

This is accomplished by many people doing a variety of jobs.

The most visible tasks  performed by public works employees are probably those in the parks and on the streets.

Sometimes, the duties are simply a bit of housekeeping.

“The routine for Monday mornings is sweeping, blowing, and picking up the trash downtown, cleaning the public buildings and checking playground equipment in the parks,” explained Ernie Garza, Gustine public works director. There is always cleaning up to do after the weekend, Garza explained, and his employees take care of it first thing so when people are walking downtown or using one of the public facilities everything is clean and ready to go.

Everyone has probably seen a maintenance worker mowing one of the parks. What they may not know, however, is that Newman and Gustine each have over 25 acres of parks and landscaped areas which require constant upkeep.

Tony Greco, a 25 year city employee in Gustine, understands the magnitude of such a job. He has been primarily responsible for mowing the city’s five parks for the past 14 years. He mows approximately 25 acres of grass each week and repairs valves, broken lines and sprinklers on a regular basis.

“I’m out there whether it’s freezing or hot or just a beautiful day. The work has to get done so I don’t mind bundling up in the cold. I enjoy being outdoors so it’s a good fit for me,” Greco reported.

He also cleans the shelters in the parks and the Al Goman Community Center. Greco takes pride in knowing his work provides a safe place for the public to enjoy.

Newman’s parks and government buildings divisions have a similar routine cleaning and maintaining 20 facilities and working 15 parks and landscaping areas on a daily basis.

Throughout the year residents in both communities may notice public works employees out in the streets sprucing up the traffic markings, clearing drains, discarding broken tree limbs, checking equipment, hanging banners or putting up decorations for community celebrations.

But behind (or beneath) the scenes are literally miles of sewer and water lines. Lines are checked on a weekly basis, and wells in each city are monitored 24 hours a day.

The water and sewer divisions adhere to strict guidelines and regulations mandated at both the federal and state levels. The EPA and the Department of Health Services receive reports from samples drawn by water and wastewater employees on a regular basis. Supervisors work through volumes of paperwork as part of the process to insure that the city is providing safe drinking water to its residents and businesses as well as a safe removal process of its waste water.

Employees in these divisions are required to be properly certified before they are allowed to even touch either system.

Newman has 34 miles of sewer lines and 28 miles of water lines to maintain.

Carlos Cantu is one of the city’s maintenance workers in the water division. He is certificated in treatment and distribution and recently received his water sampling certificate. “One of the best things about working for the city is the opportunities they give you to advance,” he acknowledged. He has worked for the City of Newman for four years, joining the water division a year ago after completing his schooling which was supported by the city. His duties include taking in house and lab water samples once a week at the numerous sample stations located throughout the city. Every morning he checks the wells for proper flow and periodically he exercises the street valves. “We always have to be prepared for a water line break,” he noted.

There are other duties performed by the water employees, like reading water meters and monitoring the SCADA system which automatically controls the flow and pressure coming from each well. And there is repair and maintenance work done on a regular basis.

When a maintenance worker is spotted looking down a manhole, what is he looking for? A nice steady flow in the sewer lines so residents have good drainage from their homes. And when the proper flow isn’t there, the worker brings in the sewer rodding machine to solve the situation before the clog creates a big problem.

“Our biggest culprits are grease and fats that people put down their drains,” Doug Mutoza, Newman public works superintendent, informed. “And you’d be surprised what items we find that somehow made it through the toilets or sinks but clogged up our sewer pipes.”  He said many people think that sewer lines are huge, and don’t realize the majority of the sewer pipes in Newman are only six to eight inches in diameter. Their job, though, is to keep those lines running and do repairs and maintenance as needed along the way. Clogs happen and his crews are out there to clear them and get everything flowing properly.

Which leads to the next step in the process, the wastewater treatment plant. It takes roughly two hours for the wastewater from town to reach the aerated lagoons where the treatment process begins. Simply put, oxygen is put into the water in order to get the “good” bacteria to grow which eats the solids, basically speeding up the natural process of the food chain.

When the water in Newman reaches the quality standards required by the Regional Water Quality Board, it is moved to one of the three storage reservoirs and eventually used to irrigate the city’s 260 acres of farmland.

One hundred percent of the city’s wastewater is safely treated and reused to grow oats, alfalfa, corn, sudan and pasture.

“We take in an average of one million gallons of wastewater from town each day,” Lance Perry, Newman’s waste water superintendent explained.

“It’s an interesting job,” Perry shared. His day is filled with paperwork and reporting, meeting the stringent restrictions and guidelines set by the Regional Water Quality Board, the Air Pollution Control Board and the County Ag Commissioner. His operators collect samples and perform tests of the water on a regular basis for accurate process control of the system. Meters are closely watched, pumps are repaired and maintained and then there are the weeds to manage in the entire 460-acre facility.

“But, it’s interesting, the whole process,” he said. “Most people are amazed when they come out here for a visit.”

Gustine uses the same type of wastewater treatment system, with treated wastewater irrigating surrounding fields.

Many capital improvement projects done around the towns are also run through the public works departments as well, like the sidewalk projects, sewer replacement projects, park installations and the upcoming downtown plaza in Newman. Most of the work is contracted out for these projects which are funded through specific grants and loan programs for those projects only but are still overseen by the public works departments.

Gustine public works crews also oversee maintenance of the municipal airport, swimming pool and a recycling center.

A major public works project is slated in Gustine, where improvements to the water system will improve water pressure and provide additional storage capacity.