Public Works highlights flood mitigation, staffing vacancies and seasonal maintenance costs

Public Works Director Alex Damien and City Engineer Brandon Schwen briefed the finance committee on Oct. 16 on engineering and street-maintenance highlights for the 2026 budget.

Schwen said the Area 7 flood mitigation project near North High School remains a major multi-year investment and that the flood program has totaled about $19.1 million in investments to date. He said engineering remains personnel-heavy on the budget and that the division still carries several critical vacancies (engineer III traffic, engineer II site development and senior surveying tech).

Damien summarized street-maintenance spending and seasonal drivers: of a roughly $2.6 million streets operating budget, approximately 30% goes to utilities (We Energies, signals, streetlights), about $620,000 covers salt and fuel, $613,000 for vehicle maintenance and $486,000 for materials and maintenance activities. He said winter season costs (salt, fuel, maintenance) represent roughly one-third of the division’s annual operating budget.

The committee discussed leaf pickup costs. Damien said variable costs for leaf pickup excluding personnel are about $180,000 and estimated including personnel and staffed-week costs could approach $500,000 in total for the season. The department told the committee it is short several equipment operators and mechanics, said recent retirements increased mechanic vacancies, and described occasional interdepartmental assistance for seasonal tasks.