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City of Springfield, MA
Hampden County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[Adopted as Title 2, Ch. 2.72, of the 1986 Code]
A. 
The Department of Public Works shall be divided into such divisions as the Director of Public Works deems administratively and operationally necessary.
B. 
Each of the major functions of engineering, streets, traffic engineering, sewers and waste disposal shall be in the charge of a person who shall be an expert in the duties which may devolve upon him, and said person shall be appointed by the Director, subject to MGL c. 31.
C. 
Each such person in charge shall devote his entire time to the work of his office, or such other duties as the Director may assign.
A. 
Appointment.
[Amended 2-25-1987]
(1) 
The Department of Public Works shall be under the charge of the Director of Public Works, who shall have administrative supervisory responsibility over all engineers employed by said Department.
(2) 
The Director of Public Works shall hold his office for a term of five years unless sooner removed in accordance with applicable laws and ordinances.
(3) 
The Director shall be a person fitted by education, training and experience to perform the duties of the office.
(4) 
A vacancy may be filled at any time for the unexpired term.
(5) 
The Director shall devote his entire time to the work of such Department.
(6) 
The Director shall have graduated from a four-year college or university with a degree in civil engineering, business or public administration and shall have a minimum of five years' responsible public works employment experience, of which at least three years' experience must be in the area of civil engineering.
B. 
Duties.
(1) 
The Director of Public Works shall:
(a) 
Supervise and care for the streets, roads, sidewalks, lanes and bridges of the City, all main drains and common sewers built or permitted to be built, or owned by the City, and all connections built under provisions of Chapter 300, Sewers, Part 1.
(b) 
Attend to the making, widening or altering of the same.
(c) 
Cause the same to be kept in repair, subject to the appropriation authorized, and to the provisions of Chapter 82, Purchasing and Contracts, Article I.
(d) 
Make all contracts for labor and materials.
(2) 
He shall notify the City Council and the Board of Public Works of the completion of the laying out, altering, widening, discontinuing or changing of the grades of any street, and of the completion of the laying, making or repairing of any main drains or common sewers, or both, such notice to be given forthwith upon the completion of such work.
(3) 
The Director shall make all necessary and proper arrangements for laying dust in and cleaning the streets and disposing of manure, refuse and street dirt, and for collecting and disposing of ashes, garbage and rubbish, shall have the care and custody of all streetlights except as otherwise provided by law, and shall have the care and superintendence of all property of the Department and all plans, delineations, estimates and reports. All field books, notes and other memoranda made by him or any of his deputies or assistants in connection with their official duties shall be and remain the property of the City.
(4) 
The Director of Public Works or his designee shall investigate, study and render reports and recommendations on all matters pertaining to traffic in the City, including the location of traffic signals, stop signs, establishment of overpasses and underpasses, the width, grade, location and design of streets and safety islands, traffic noises, elimination of heavy trucking in congested areas, establishment of parking lots and all other matters pertaining directly or indirectly to traffic conditions in the City.
(5) 
He shall have charge of the records of the former Bureau of Traffic Engineering and of the records of the Division of Traffic Engineering as established in § 27-60, and he shall discharge such other duties as may properly relate to the management of said division.
(6) 
He shall attend all meetings of the Traffic Commission, prepare the agenda for each meeting and keep a properly indexed docket of all investigations, reports and recommendations.
(7) 
He may call upon other departments for assistance in the performance of his duties, provided that the granting of such assistance would not unreasonably interfere with the normal function of such other department.
(8) 
He shall procure through the Purchasing Department materials and supplies needed for his Department.
(9) 
The Director of Public Works or his designees shall install, erect or cause to be maintained all necessary and proper authorized traffic control devices, traffic and parking regulatory signs and all highway pavement markings.
(10) 
The Director of Public Works or his designee shall establish and determine the design, timing, type, size and location of any and all signs, signals, markings, pylons, channels, islands and other devices for guiding, directing or otherwise regulating and controlling vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
C. 
Construction of public works. Unless otherwise provided, the Director of Public Works, either by himself or by the deputies, shall take charge of the construction of all public works of the City which come under this Department.
D. 
Engineering service, plans and specifications. The Director of Public Works shall cause the performance by the Department of all engineering services, the making of all examinations and the preparation of all statements, plans and specifications which any department head may need in the discharge of his duties.
[Amended 2-25-1987]
E. 
Bridges. The Director of Public Works shall cause the supervision of all repairs on the bridges used as highways which affect the safety of the structure and shall annually order the examination of all bridges within the City limits and make such reports to the Mayor respecting their condition as to safety, need of renewal or repairs as the case may be.
[Amended 2-25-1987]
F. 
Measuring work done by contract. The Director of Public Works shall, when required by the Mayor or by any officer or board in charge of a department, cause the measuring and certification of measuring results to be done by engineers in his department of work done by contract for the City.
[Amended 2-25-1987]
G. 
Construction of public works and other services. The Director of Public Works shall cause engineers under his administrative supervision and direction to make the surveys, measurements, levels and estimates and perform the other duties of civil engineers in the laying out and construction of streets, sidewalks, drains, sewers, and other public works delegated to or under taken by this Department and shall perform any and all such services as may be required of him by the Mayor, the City Council or any committee thereof, the City Solicitor or by any other department.
[Amended 2-25-1987]
A. 
The Director of Public Works shall have and assume all powers, duties and authorities, however granted, which were heretofore or shall be hereinafter vested in the Traffic Engineer of the City or in the Bureau of Traffic Engineering of the City.
B. 
The Director of Public Works shall, however, appoint, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission and the provisions of Chapter 31 of the General Laws of Massachusetts, a Traffic Engineer to assume said powers and duties, and who shall have said authorities as transferred in this article; provided, however, that the Director of Public Works shall have the power to revoke such delegation of said powers, duties and authorities in conformity with and not inconsistent with the provisions Chapter 31 of the General Laws.
A. 
The person appointed to hold the position of Traffic Engineer as set forth in this article shall be a registered professional engineer. He shall also have six years of experience in a professional status in traffic engineering with at least two of said years in responsible charge. In the event such appointee does not have six years of experience with at least two years in responsible charge as mentioned in this article, he shall be a graduate of a recognized engineering college with a Bachelor of Science degree with a reasonable number of credit hours in engineering or a graduate of a recognized traffic engineering school and three years of experience in a professional status in traffic engineering with at least one year in responsible charge.
B. 
A person so appointed, if not a resident of the City on the date of such permanent appointment, shall be required to become a resident of the City within two years from said date as mentioned in this article.
A. 
The Director of Public Works may from time to time employ such office of field assistants, in addition to the deputies provided for in this article, as he may require in the performance of the duties of the Department, and shall determine their compensation, in accordance, however, with the ordinances of the City, and within the appropriation for such Department and subject to the approval of the Mayor.
B. 
He may, subject to the approval of the Mayor and subject to the provisions of Chapter 82, Purchasing and Contracts, Article I, expend such sums for labor, materials, implements, appliances and incidental expenses as may be necessary for the use of such Department; provided, however, that all such expenditures for employment of assistants and for material and other incidentals shall be limited to the amount actually appropriated by the City Council for such Department.
Whenever the Director of Public Works ascertains that any building or structure has been placed within the lines of a public street, or so that it may cause injury thereto or inconvenience to travelers thereon, he shall immediately give notice thereof in writing to the Mayor.
The Director of Public Works shall keep an exact account of the expenditures in his Department with the names of all persons who have furnished materials and of all workmen and the amount due to each individual and shall lay the same before the Mayor for his examination and approval at such times as he may direct; and he shall annually, on or before the last Monday in January, present to the Mayor a report containing a detailed statement of the expenditures of the Department during the preceding fiscal year, specifying, as near as may be, the amounts expended upon different streets for construction and maintenance, the condition of all structures that come under his supervision that are in the process of construction or have been completed during the previous year, together with a schedule in detail of the property under his charge belonging to the City, and such other information relating to the work of the Department as he may deem expedient, or as the Mayor may require.