It seems no matter where in town you go, if you look around you may see these hard working guys in the bright neon orange shirts! No matter what the weather, they are out in it, doing what needs to be done to keep our city looking great! Do you know exactly what their job description is? If you said, mowing the parks and medians/ditches you would be right. But let’s look a bit deeper into the daily duties of a City of Kennedale Public Works employee.
- They always set up and clean up for all special events (Christmas tree lighting- Bark in the park-Kid fish – Trunk or Treat – Community Theatre…) and they put up and take down all the city Christmas lights.
- Street repair (asphalt and concrete)
- Crack seal on streets
- Tree pruning
- Tree removal
- Tree/Shrub planting
- Park maintenance and equipment repair
- Building maintenance
- Ditch Cleaning and Culvert cleaning
- Mowing (Zero turn-Boom mower-Brush hog) Weed eating & edging & blowing off work zones
- Maintain Town center fountain
- Painting strips on road way
- Sign repair
- Inlet repair and cleaning
- Mosquito testing
- Water testing all drinking fountains
- Maintain ball fields
- Sanding Icy streets
- Emergency road way assistance (lights out or tree or obstruction in the road)
- Assist the wonderful amazing time giving unsung heroes of Kennedale’s beauty factor – Keep Kennedale Beautiful! (Ron wrote this, not me!)
“The City Guys” as I lovingly refer to them, are one of our cities greatest treasures. They do their job and do it well, not looking for any recognition and they rarely ever get any that I know of. Kennedale News would like to recognize these wonderful men and lady, who give their all to our city on a daily basis. They have a vast knowledge of many different types of work being a Public Works Employee. Some come to the job with a will to be a hard worker, but do not have experience in all the areas this job covers. That is where their knowledgeable bosses come into play. They get hands on training in the field from Larry Hoover – Public Works Director, along with his lead people, Ron Taylor – Streets and Parks Manager, Dennis Brown – Storm-water and Facilities Maintenance Manager. They train and/or improve their skills to do the jobs they are being required to do. Of course these leaders of Public works could not function at all without the guiding hand and organizational skills of Mary Goza, their Administrative Assistant in Public Works.
Did you know that Public Works employees are recognized federally as “First Responders?” They are on call 24/7 in the case of any city/state emergency situation to provide their service.
“Local public works agencies and state departments of transportation play a major role in disasters and other emergencies. Their maintenance and operations (field force) staffs constitute the most visible and vital element, especially in the response and recovery phases. They are among the first to respond and clear roadways so that police, fire, emergency medical, and utilities vehicles can access stricken areas. Field forces also assist with rescue, evacuation, and sheltering and provide temporary traffic control, perimeter security, animal control, transportation of supplies and equipment, on-site vehicle service, debris management, and restoration of infrastructure. The wide range of their capabilities is a valuable component in nearly any type of crisis. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 of 2003 included public works as “emergency responders.”
Dave Bergner, M.A.Kimberly C. Vasconez, M.P.I.A.
With all this being said, we hope you have a better understanding about “YOUR” Public Works Employees now. Next time you see them around the city, why not give them a wave or let them know what a great job they are doing? They truly deserve our thanks in so many ways.
Meet your City of Kennedale Public Works Employees: Kennedale’s Unsung Heroes!
Jay Brady – Steven Rountree – George Casa – Randy Phillip – Jerry Martinez – Robert Darden – Cody Maiure – Stan Rountree
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