City of Joplin's street overlay project to begin soon

(From the City of Joplin)

The City’s annual street overlay project will be starting soon, which will include 25% of the city’s streets being overlaid this year. This project is just one of many in the Public Works Department that Interim Public Works Director Sam Anselm is supervising currently.

Serving as Interim Director, Anselm has been charged with the oversight of the department and is working closely with the division managers to maintain efficient operations and management of their areas.

“The Public Works Department is responsible for many facets of our community,” said Anselm. “We have several street-widening projects currently in progress, as well as stormwater upgrades, capital improvements with the TIGER grant program, and the general operations within the department. It’s a busy time and we are moving forward as the staff focuses on their work to complete these projects and their daily responsibilities.”

As Anselm ensures projects stay on schedule, City Manager Mark Rohr has also instructed him to conduct a process review for each division.

“As he does these reviews, I’ve asked him to make short-term changes as necessary, but to also develop recommendations that will benefit the department in the long-term,” said Rohr. “We want to be confident that the procedures in place are appropriate and address the various functions necessary to have a professional department to effectively serve our citizens, business owners and developers.”

Vacancies in the department were created last week as a result of reviews in two divisions. Currently, the City has initiated a national search to fill the Public Works Director position and will be advertising for a supervisor in the Divisions of the Garage and Building/Code Enforcement area. Rohr noted that these vacancies will be filled as quickly as possible, and the services to our citizens should not be affected during this period.

“Our current staff will continue their work as well as assist in areas as needed. As we saw following the tornado in 2011, the Public Works employees work hard and adapt to workloads as necessary. I appreciate this characteristic in them and in all of our staff.”

For more information about these positions or other openings at the City of Joplin, go to http://joplinmo.org/jobs.aspx