There shall be a Public Works Department which
shall be headed by the Director of Public Works, who shall also be
the City Engineer. The Department shall consist of such divisions
as the Common Council may authorize.
The Director of Public Works shall be appointed
by the Mayor with the approval of the Common Council from the competitive
class of the civil service. He shall be a professional engineer licensed
by the State of New York.
The powers, duties and responsibilities of the
Director of Public Works shall include:
A. Performance of all duties now or hereafter assigned
to the City Engineer.
B. Responsibility for the supervision and direction of
all of the activities of the Department and for all engineering work
of the City.
C. Responsibility for the construction, maintenance,
cleaning and repair of streets, sidewalks, sewers, public parking
lots, retaining walls, public buildings, facilities and structures,
except as may otherwise be provided by law, and for the collection
and disposal of solid wastes and other refuse from residential structures
and such other places as the Common Council may determine. In administering
the streets and sewerage facilities of the City, the Director of Public
Works shall assure that private developers have satisfactorily discharged
their responsibilities for construction of streets and sewer lines
through subdivisions.
D. Responsibility for the supervision of consulting engineers
when retained by the Common Council for specific purposes.
E. Supervision and administration on behalf of the City
of all contracts for public construction or public services.
F. House numbering, streetlighting and, at the direction
of the Chief of Police, installation, maintenance and removal of the
traffic control devices, signs and markings.
G. Planting, care and removal of trees and shrubs located
on City property.
H. Provision, as the Common Council may provide, for
the maintenance and repair of all City vehicles and equipment, other
than office equipment, including the maintenance of suitable and accurate
use and repair records for all such vehicles and equipment.
I. Have custody of all City maps and surveys, except
as otherwise provided in this Charter or other law.
J. Recommend to the Mayor and the Common Council the
adoption of such standard technical codes as he believes to be needed
for the safety and well-being of the City's residents.
K. Certification of all public work performed pursuant
to contract under supervision and control of the Department before
it is accepted, to the effect that such work is performed in a good
and substantial manner, with the materials required and of the quality
and in the manner directed by the terms of the contract. The Director
of Public Works shall file such certificate of completion with the
City Clerk and Controller before final payment is made under the contract.
L. Subject to civil service law, rules and regulations,
the Director of Public Works shall appoint assistants and other employees
of the Department to fill such positions within the Department as
are authorized by the Common Council. The Director of Public Works
may also suspend and remove all assistants and other employees of
the Department subject to civil service law, rules and regulations.
M. In addition to the duties assigned to the Director
of Public Works by this Charter or required by ordinance or resolution
of the Common Council, the Director shall perform any similar or related
duties incident to the functions of the Department as may be assigned
by the Mayor.
N. The Director of Public Works shall attend meetings
of the Common Council.
[Amended 12-18-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990; 7-17-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007; 7-7-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
There shall be a Division of Building and Zoning
Enforcement, the head of which shall be the Code Enforcement Supervisor,
whose duties and responsibilities shall include, but not be limited,
to the enforcement in the City of Amsterdam of the State Uniform Fire
Prevention and Building Code and such other standard codes as the
Common Council may adopt on behalf of the City. The Code Enforcement
Supervisor shall be the Chief Code Enforcement Officer within the
Division of Building and Zoning Enforcement. The Mayor shall appoint
such Code Enforcement Supervisor, Building Inspectors, Housing Inspectors,
Plumbing Inspectors, Electrical Inspectors and Code Enforcement Officers
as shall from time to time be authorized by the Common Council, which
inspectors and officers shall serve at the Mayor's discretion. The
Code Enforcement Supervisor shall have the responsibility for registration
of and investigation into any and all bona-fide code violation complaints
pertaining to new construction, existing buildings commercial or residential
and the Zoning Ordinance.
The Zoning Board of Appeals of the City shall continue as presently constituted and empowered in Chapter
250, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Amsterdam and other applicable law.