Public Works Department Mission Statement

Consistent with the Corvallis 2020 Vision Statement and City Council goals, our mission is to support and enhance the quality of life for residents by delivering responsive and efficient services to all neighborhoods and maintaining reliable and cost-effective public works facilities and systems in a manner that emphasizes customer satisfaction, public service, and good stewardship of natural, fiscal, and staff resources

Services are offered out of four divisions in the Public Works Department:

Transportation – The Transportation Division covers a wide variety of service areas and a multitude of transportation modes. Any service provided on the streets or in the rights-of-way in our city are most likely provided from this Division. Street repair, street sweeping, street and directional sign maintenance, pavement marking, traffic signal maintenance, and street lighting are the most common examples. Parking services are managed by Transportation staff, including public parking lots, on-street parking, residential parking districts, permit parking lots, parking meters, and design and management of the parking system. Various modes of transportation are supported by Division staff–transit, airport, bicycle and pedestrian. Services cover the management and planning for the particular system, as well as the development of projects to enhance services. Four citizen advisory commissions are used to assist staff in developing service levels to meet the community needs.

Utilities – The Utilities Division is all about water–drinking water, wastewater, and storm water. The City has two water treatment plants and one wastewater treatment plant. Along with ensuring high quality water that meets all state and federal requirementson both ends , services are provided to maintain the treatment plant equipment, to automate control of plant processes, and to operate the remote reservoir and pump station facilities. The water quality lab conducts over 10,000 tests a year on the water at every stage in the process. Miles of piping to distribute the drinking water to homes, businesses, and schools and to collect the wastewater are maintained by Division staff. Public education programs encourage water conservation activities in the home and around the yard, and pollution prevention to the urban streams that snake through the City. Long-term planning for sufficient infrastructure to meet a growing community's needs and financial planning to ensure sufficient revenues to construct needed projects are an important component of each of the utility systems.

Engineering – The Engineering Division is responsible for designing and managing the construction projects that build the street and utility infrastructure systems. Division staff develop master plans for these systems that determine what types and how much infrastructure will be required to meet projected community needs twenty years in the future. New infrastructure is also added to the systems through the work of private contractors when building new subdivisions or commercial development. Staff reviews and approves these private development project plans, and inspects the construction once completed to ensure it was built to city standards and specifications. Inspection of work done in the public rights-of-way by private utility companies providing telephone, electrical, gas, and cable services is also a responsibility of this Division. A citizen advisory group assists staff in prioritizing needed capital projects and developing a five-year capital improvement program plan.

Administration – The Administration Division is responsible for the general management oversight of department operations. Development of business plans and seven-year financial plans ensures the focus is on the future and on what changes in course might be required to meet evolving state and federal regulations, to maintain efficient delivery of Department services and to ensure long-term financial stability for the various systems operated by the Department. Division staff provide administrative support services to the other Public Works activity areas, which include customer service/reception, accounts receivable and payable, payroll, budgeting, recruitments, citizen information material, bid and RFP process coordination, records and property management, automation system support, and web page maintenance. Staff administers the franchise agreements with the private utility companies operating in the public rights-of-way and resolves any related citizen concerns.