“The mission of the Springfield Public Works Department is to maintain, repair, and improve the infrastructure of the Township.”
-springfield-nj.us/departments/public-works/
This mission has become very apparent in the weeks following Storm Ida. The Department of Public Works has put in approximately two thousand hours in relation to storm/flood clean-up.
The department lost six vehicles, various pieces of small equipment (used to perform general maintenance), power washers, generators, car lifts, and more in the storm. Fortunately, the water in the DPW stations drained on its own as there is no basement. However, the stations were damaged. All non-priority general maintenance was put on hold during the first two weeks of the flood clean-up. At this time, the Public Works Department is handling business as usual in addition to coordinating and participating in the repair and removal of storm damaged items.
When asked about the process, Supervisor Robert Boettcher said this:
“Immediately following the storm, it was apparent that we needed to get other resources in place to handle the volume of bulk hitting the curb that was damaged from the floodwater. We immediately reached out to two other garbage companies to supply thirty-yard dumpsters at various locations in order to remove the debris as quickly as possible.”
As of September 24th, Public Works has hauled forty-five hundred yards of bulk items from the curb with much more to be tallied. The department is using all available equipment, staff and other resources in order to tackle the town wide damage Ida left behind.