WHAT WE DO
 The Department of Public Works is the largest and most diverse department within the City of Vacaville. We are responsible for every public facility that a citizen sees and uses in their daily life. In addition to its 181 full-time positions, the Department utilizes seasonal non-full-time positions based upon program needs.
FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Public Works is responsible for the following major functions:
- Operating and maintaining major utility facilities, including the municipal water treatment plant, two wastewater treatment plants, lift stations, flow metering sites, odor control sites, water storage reservoirs and pump stations, and the municipal water wells.
- Providing design review and input on all private development projects to ensure consistency with City standards and adjacent Capital Improvement Projects (“CIP”).
- Maintaining infrastructure within the public right-of-way (both above and below ground level), such as storm drain mains, creeks, streets, sidewalks, roadside easements, sewer and water mains, traffic signals, and street lights.
- Planning, designing and constructing new public facilities and structures, as well as rehabilitating or modifying existing facilities and structures.
- Inspecting private development projects for consistency with City standards within the public rights-of-way.
- Maintaining parks, setback and median landscaping, open space, and bike trails.
- Planning, design, and operation of the City’s transportation facilities, including the traffic model, traffic signal system, development review, transportation safety, and bus transit operations.
- Maintaining City buildings and the City’s vehicle fleet.
- Administering refuse collection services, yard waste collection, household hazardous waste disposal, and the curbside recycling programs.
- Providing emergency services during situations involving street flooding.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Public Works is organized into five divisions in order to provide the wide range of services needed by residents and businesses: Administrative Services, Engineering Services, Maintenance, Traffic Engineering & Transit, and Utilities. Each division employs a different combination of professional, clerical, technical, labor, and operational staff to perform its specialized types of services.
ENGINEERING SERVICES DIVISION
The Engineering Services Division is comprised of three sections: Design, Construction, and Administrative Support.
Design: This section consists of professional registered and non-registered civil engineers, a landscape architect, and technical support staff who provide design services, right-of-way acquisition, landscape architecture, and project management to Capital Improvement Projects (“CIP’s”). In addition, this section is responsible for maintaining the City-wide base mapping and public utilities mapping, and maintains record drawings of all public and private projects in the city.
Construction Administration: This section consists of professional engineers and technical staff with expertise in construction to ensure high quality construction accordance with project plans and specifications. This section ensures projects are completed in accordance with the contract documents and within budget, while minimizing any inconvenience to the public regarding their safety.
Administrative Support: This section provides accounting, customer service, grant administration, and technical administrative support.
MAINTENANCE DIVISION
The Maintenance Division is the largest division in the Department, as well as the City. Maintenance provides municipal services such as street repair, maintenance of water and sewer lines, and upkeep of the parks. In addition, it provides internal City services such as vehicle repair and City facilities maintenance. The Maintenance Division is divided into six sections: Fleet Maintenance, Facilities Maintenance, Park Maintenance, Street Maintenance, Field Utilities Maintenance and Administration.
Fleet Maintenance: Primary functions are to purchase new vehicles and equipment, and to provide preventive maintenance and repair services at the Central Garage.
Parks Maintenance: Maintains the City’s regional, community, and neighborhood parks, and performs tasks associated with park and grounds maintenance, including ball field maintenance. In addition, they maintain over 2,000 acres of open space, as well as the landscaping of all public buildings, bike trails, and setbacks along arterial streets.
Facilities Maintenance: Maintains all City facilities. Their varied duties include carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning repair, installation of safety equipment, and the maintenance of pumps.
Street Maintenance/Traffic Safety: Maintains arterial, collector and residential streets, as well as curbs, gutters and sidewalks. Street Maintenance responsibilities include paving, crack sealing and patching of streets, as well as concrete work, channel and creek maintenance, and weed abatement. They also called upon to install bus shelters, benches and sculptures, and assist with grading for various City projects. Traffic Safety has responsibility for City traffic signals, City-owned street lights, street signs, lane striping, crosswalks and pavement legends.
Field Utilities Maintenance: Maintains the water distribution and sewer collection systems. Employees are available 24 hours per day to provide timely service, and to respond to emergency situations. Their work focuses on the repair and maintenance of water mains, sanitary sewer lines and related valves, and the storm drain system.
Administration: Responsible for the overall management of the Maintenance Division. Under the direction of the Deputy Director of Public Works, managerial, engineering and technical/clerical employees provide necessary support services. In addition, this Section oversees recycling and integrated waste management efforts.
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING AND TRANSIT DIVISION
The Traffic Engineering Division is responsible for the planning, design, and operations of all transportation services in the City of Vacaville. This includes Transportation Planning & Modeling, Traffic Engineering Design/Safety Analysis /Signal Operations, Regional Transportation Coordination & Funding, and Bus Transit Operations & Maintenance.
Transportation Modeling: Evaluates the City’s transportation infrastructure as it relates to new and existing residential and business development within Vacaville. Staff coordinates transportation system planning within the goals, objectives, and policies of the City’s General Plan.
Plan Development/Traffic Operations: Responsible for the safe, efficient flow of traffic within Vacaville’s transportation infrastructure. This includes ongoing safety improvements to street signing, striping, and signals.
Transit : Operates City Coach, the City’s local bus system. City Coach has a fleet of 13 buses, 7 diesels and 6 compressed natural gas, which operate on 7 scheduled routes, Monday through Saturday. Transit also coordinates regional funding and inter-regional routes with private and public agencies serving Solano County.
UTILITIES DIVISION
The Utilities Division is responsible for potable water acquisition, treatment and storage, as well as wastewater treatment systems. These operations are required to meet stringent regulatory requirements, and insure customer confidence by maintaining high quality standards. The Utilities Division is composed of five major sections: Water Operations, Wastewater Operations, Water Quality, Utilities Maintenance, and Utilities Administration.
Water Operations: Provides high quality potable drinking water to community residents and businesses, in accordance with Federal and State regulations. Water comes from 3 sources. Two are surface water, Lake Berryessa and the Delta. The third is ground water, with a number of deep wells providing high quality potable water. Water operations maintains and operates two Water Treatment Plants, Deep Wells, Water Booster Stations and Reservoirs.
Wastewater Operations: Treats raw sewage through a 10 Million Gallons per Day ("MGD") treatment plant and a 1.5 MGD industrial treatment plant. An expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Facility is under construction which will bring the treatment capacity to 15 MGD.
Water Quality - Pretreatment & Cross Connection Control: Ensures protection of the sewer system, wastewater treatment plant, and water distribution system through inspection, sampling, and annual testing of backflow devices at industrial facilities and commercial businesses. This ensures compliance with federal pretreatment requirements, and the sewer use ordinance section.
Water Quality – Laboratory: Ensures the quality of drinking water, treated wastewater, and biosolids by providing sampling and analytical services.
Utilities Maintenance: Responsible for routine maintenance, corrective repairs, and modifications to existing water and wastewater treatment plants, as well as pumping and storage facilities, equipment and systems. Additionally, this Section works with its customers to develop, design and install new systems and equipment.
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