SIDNEY — “The goals for the Public Works team is to continue to provide the best, most efficient services to the residents while we struggle through continued tough economic times. Public Works consists of several divisions with a wide range of responsibilities which affect the daily lives of all of our citizens. The divisions include underground utilities, wastewater and water treatment plants, streets, traffic, engineering, public transit, Sidney airport, and fleet services.,” said Gary Clough, assistant city manager and public works director.
The following, said Clough, is a summary of the divisions and their major responsibilities, accomplishments of 2018 and 2019 projected at a glance:
Engineering: Engineering consists of three employees who provide technical and administrative support on numerous construction projects, both public and private. These include surveying, design, contract administration, inspection, grant writing and support services for the other departments within the city. In 2018, work was completed on several major projects:
• State Route 47 Safety Improvements between Vandemark Road and I-75
• 2018 Sidewalk and Curb Program
• 2018 Resurfacing, and Striping Projects
• North Street Reconstruction
• New traffic signal at Fair road and Vandemark and Fair Road and I75
The following projects are scheduled for 2018:
• 2015 ODOT Urban Paving Program from Vandemark to Ohio Avenue
• State Route 47 Safety Improvements 4th Avenue to Walnut Avenue
• 2019 Sidewalk and Curb Programs
• 2019 Resurfacing and Striping Programs
• Park Street Bridge Replacement
• Russell Road Reconstruction, watermains and sanitary sewers Wapak to North Main
• Helen Court paving, drainage, and sanitary sewer improvements
• Park Street Oak to St. Marys- new pavement, sanitary sewers and watermain
• New watermains on Lyndhurst, Kenwood and Pinehurst
• Newc storm sewers on Aurora, South Street, and downtown,
• New sanitary sewers on Wilkinson, North Street, North Ohio, East Court and Hall Street.
• Kuther Road force main replacement
Street Department: The street department consists of 6 employees. They are responsible for the maintenance of 112 centerline miles of roadways, 18 miles of alleys, 13 parking lots, weed spraying, mosquito abatement, street tree pruning of approximately 3,100 street trees, snow removal, street sweeping, 51 traffic signals, 5,000 signs, street striping maintenance, leaf pick-up, and maintenance and repair of 84 street lights in the Court Square and on the North Street Bridge. In 2017, approximately 12.8 miles of roads were paved, 9,000 feet of curb and gutter were replaced, 5.0 miles of roadways were crack sealed, and 528 miles of roads were swept. 100 traffic signal bulbs, 1 pedestrian signal and 356 traffic signs were replaced. 22 miles of streets were restriped. 320 street trees were pruned and 2,208 cubic yards of leaves were collected. City crews also responded to 14 snow events in 2018.
Fleet Services- Fleet services consists of three employees. Fleet maintains approximately 258 pieces of rolling stock. 45 of those are for police and fire departments. In 2018, 13 units were replaced. In 2019, 14 units will be replaced.
Shelby Public Transit- Shelby Public Transit provided 49,359 trips, up almost 1,000 from 2018, logged over 17,339 hours of service and 242,297 miles with 11vehicles in 2018. This is an average decrease of 0.5 percent from 2017. We continue a connector route with Miami County that takes and picks up passengers from Piqua to transfer between the two County systems.
The shared labor pool throughout the city continues as needed for special events such as snow removal and leaf pick-up which is still affecting overall maintenance and operational schedules for other needed services that the city provides for our infrastructure and to our residents.
Utilities Department
2018 Year in Review and Glance to 2019
The city of Sidney’s Utility Department is part of the Public Works umbrella. It has 38 employees and consists of the Water Treatment Plant, Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Underground Utilities. Underground Utilities consists of water distribution, wastewater collections, and Stormwater Maintenance and Monitoring. The following are highlights from 2018 and a glance at 2019:
Water Treatment Plant- In 2018, the Water Treatment Plant treated approximately 1.1 billion gallons of water, a 1 percent increase over 2017. Some of the activities completed in 2018 included restoration of the city’s lime lagoon, and various pumps and gear boxes. The city completed phase I of the new well field and the transmission main from the well field to the water treatment plant. This project assures the city a more reliable and drought proof water supply for at least the next 80 years.
Wastewater Treatment Plant- In 2018, the WWTP treated over 1.8 billion gallons of wastewater from the city’s sanitary sewer system. This is a 1.5% decrease from 2017. The city also provided additional treatment for 566 dry tons of biosolids. The WWTP is operating under an EPA NPDES operating permit that mandated changes to some of the limits of the wastewater discharge and also further regulated the elimination of wet weather bypasses. The city completed a $12 million expansion and process upgrade project The city is also in year 6 of its program to eliminate wet weather infiltration sources into the sanitary sewer collection system. The WWTP will continue to meet all regulatory permit conditions. 2019 projects include the completion of construction of phase 2 of the WWTP expansion providing additional treatment and improved reliability of the plant into the future.
Stormwater Monitoring- The Stormwater Monitoring program continues to maintain compliance with the city’s NPDES permit. Some of the 2018 activities to meet the required six minimum measures included the Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River, storm drain stenciling, distribution of educational materials to the public on water quality issues, enforcement of the city’s stormwater Ordinances and inspections of the city’s stormwater system.
Underground Utilities- Responsibilities of this section include the maintenance of the water distribution system and the sewer and stormwater collection systems. In total, the City owns and maintains over 343 miles of pipe related to water distribution, and sewer and stormwater collection. In 2018, Underground Utility staff cleaned approximately 72,859 feet of sanitary sewer and televised 41,995 feet of sanitary sewer to determine sources of clean water infiltration and identify problems with the sanitary sewer that were in need of repair. Staff performed grout repairs to over 13,370 feet of sewers. In addition, they performed required maintenance on eight sanitary and storm pump stations throughout the city. Staff also cleaned 4,311 feet of storm sewer, repaired or replaced 71 catch basins, inspected and cleaned 2,663 catch basins, repaired or replaced 22 manholes, repaired 17 water main breaks and repaired or replaced 35 fire hydrants throughout the year. Underground Utilities also continued the hydrant flushing program in the spring and fall of 2018. Underground Utilities inflow and infiltration (I&I) division is now in area 6 making improvements to the collection system to eliminate I&I. We are also in area 6 contacting property owners to inspect their systems on-site to determine any points of inflow or infiltration to eliminate. Typically, I&I from private property can contribute 75 to 80% of the overall I&I of a system.
