There is created and established, a department of public works, and the duties, powers and appropriations of the engineering department relating to streets, water and sewers are transferred to the department of public works.
(Prior revision § 2-31; C.O. 83-52 § 26)
The department of public works shall be under the general supervision of a superintendent who shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to city council confirmation. The superintendent of public works shall serve for a term of four years coterminous with the four-year term of the mayor, and until the superintendent's successor is duly appointed and qualified.
(Prior revision § 2-31.1; C.O. 82-46 § 1; C.O. 24-086, 5/6/2024)
A. 
The superintendent of public works shall have the supervision and control of construction, alteration, maintenance and repair of the streets and ways, sidewalks, bridges, water system, sewers and drains, and all public buildings with the exceptions of the schools, whose maintenance and repair shall remain within the control of the school committee, and the Carnegie Public Library, whose maintenance and repair shall remain within the direction and control of the board of trustees of such library, and any and all other such public buildings which have specific ordinances or statutes which provide for their maintenance and repair.
B. 
The superintendent shall have charge of street cleaning, collection of rubbish and shall perform all other services properly connected with the public works department as may be required by the mayor or the city council.
(Prior revision § 2-31.2)
A. 
The department of public works shall be composed of the following divisions:
1. 
Administration;
2. 
Water;
3. 
Streets;
4. 
Sewers and drains;
5. 
Equipment and maintenance;
6. 
Sanitation.
B. 
Each division of the department of public works, with the exception of the administrative division, which shall be under the charge of an accountant, shall be under the immediate charge of a foreman, who shall be responsible for making work schedules, maintaining discipline, and providing for the care and maintenance of all equipment in the foreman's division, under the direction of the superintendent, who shall retain the authority to review decisions of such foreman.
C. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, the superintendent shall have the power to transfer personnel and equipment as the superintendent deems necessary for the efficient and economical operation of the department of public works.
(Prior revision § 2-31.3)
A. 
Incumbents of positions in the administrative, janitorial, meter reader and labor divisions of the engineering department, except the city engineer, junior engineering aide, senior clerk and stenographer and personnel in the engineering department presently performing the duties of the draftsman, rod-men or engineering aides, on the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter derives, whether or not these positions are held on a permanent or temporary basis, are transferred to the department of public works.
B. 
The incumbents mentioned in subsection A of this section shall be transferred in accordance with subsection A, without impairment of seniority, retirement rights or other rights, and without reduction in compensation or salary grade, whether the grade is temporary or otherwise. Tenure rights of such incumbents or civil service status shall be preserved.
(Prior revision § 2-31.4)
The superintendent of public works, subject to the approval of the mayor, shall establish rules for the conduct of the public works department not inconsistent with law or ordinance.
(Prior revision § 2-31.5)
A. 
The public works department, referred to in this section as the department, with the assistance of the office of the city engineer, shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining a program for the issuance of permits and emergency permits for curb cuts, water service, street occupancy and sewer layers, etc., on all public ways and properties under the jurisdiction of the department.
B. 
The program shall include:
1. 
The establishment of rules and regulations;
2. 
The setting of fees;
3. 
The collection of fees and the depositing of them in a self-sustaining revolving account by the city treasurer;
4. 
The creation of a program to be funded by the revolving account for permanent repairs on a semiannual or annual basis, or on a time period deemed appropriate by the department after consultation with the office of city engineer;
5. 
The expenditure of the funds in the revolving account;
6. 
The keeping of all records; and
7. 
The inspection of all work done.
C. 
The permanent repair program shall also include permanent repair of municipal excavations on street openings, if funds have been transferred to the revolving account from the appropriate city accounts.
(Prior revision § 2-31.6; C.O. 81-293(b) § 3)