Hazel Park Department of Public Works
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS MAINTAINS MANY FUNCTIONS OF THE CITY. Many of these duties change with the seasons. In the warm weather, the department cuts many acres of lawn at our 13 parks and municipal buildings, the street sweeper sweeps the entire city every two weeks, tree crews maintain over 4,100 city trees, and road crews do their best to keep our streets free of pot holes. In the cold weather months, crews keep our roads safe by salting and plowing the streets when needed.
Throughout the year, DPW crews use our garbage truck to empty all city garbage cans along John R and 9 Mile Roads and all City parks. Our mechanic staff maintains all city vehicles and equipment at the DPW garage. The DPW also prepares and sets up special events such as the Memorial Day Festival and Parade, the Art Fair and the Santa Hat 5K run. The Department of Public Works is on call 24/7 for any issues that may happen after hours, including the flood of 2014, the 9 Mile Bridge fire of 2009 and any other issues big or small.
The City of Hazel Park’s Water-Sewer Department was established in 1951. The Water-Sewer Department is responsible for monitoring and servicing the city’s water distribution system, sanitary sewer system and storm sewer system.
Year-round preventative maintenance with many other tasks is the key to keeping the city’s water-sewer system operational and in compliance with all state and federal regulations. Constant care to the system is essential, not only for the consumer’s daily needs, but also the need to be ready for unforeseen emergencies. Fire fighters rely on good water pressure and availability to combat fires quickly.
So, just how big is the water-sewer system for the City of Hazel Park? Most people do not understand the magnitude of a water-sewer system because it is mostly underground and out of sight.
The city’s water system consists of just less than 60 miles of water main, with an approximate 643 operating water main gate valves which serves just over 7500 water consumers. The City purchases clean, safe drinking water from the City of Detroit’s Water & Sewer Department (DWSD); this is the same for just about all cities in the Tri-County area. The City also has three large pressure control valves at each DWSD connection to keep the water system stabilized.
There are approximately 483 fire hydrants, each with an auxiliary valve, throughout the city. About 1,869 storm sewer catch basin drains within the city are each connected to underground pipes to take away surface water. About two-thirds of these city storm drains go directly to the Michigan Great Lakes system, thus the city over- sees a “Watershed Protection” program to protect the natural waters of the state. The
other one third of the city’s storm drains discharge into a combined storm/sanitary sewer system. The sanitary sewer system (including the combined system) is just about equal to the same mileage as the water system. It carries sanitary sewage to a DWSD waste water treatment plant.
The City has an aggressive cleaning program to keep both the sanitary and storm sewer systems working properly.
This great task of maintaining the city’s water-sewer system is performed by a dedicated staff consisting of a full-time supervisor, six full-time employees, two part-time employees, two full time office staff, and two mechanics. Though our team works a 40-hour work week, they are on call 24/7 for city emergencies that occur at any time day or night. This division is overseen by the Director of Public Works.
In addition to their water-sewer responsibilities, the staff and crew also assists other city departments in times of emergencies and other miscellaneous issues that occur from time to time. Municipalities are always facing new challenges, in good times or bad, their dedication never wavers.
