DPW Director Looks For Savings

DPW Director David Sherman

Photo by Jay Thompson

(posted Nov 9)

When a group of long time staffers at the Indianapolis Department of Public Works told Director David Sherman that they had never seen anybody "squeeze a nickel so hard", he replied "wait until next year."

"We have no money," Sherman told the audience at the November 5 IMPD Northwest District Task Force Meeting.

"I am trying to share what public works is like. Everybody has needs and what we are trying to do right now at the end of this year and next year is figure out how to get the streets cleaner and try and get some more sidewalks in."

The city's infrastructure of streets, bridges, sidewalks and curbs is in need of $1.5 billion of improvements. "That is a lot of money," he said.

He talked about adding bikes paths in order to get federal or private-public funding for road improvements. The City has about $154 million worth of sidewalks projects with only $2.5 million budgeted each year. That does not include the $3.5 billion in sewers and combined sewer overflows problems.

Sewer bills will increase by about $4.00 per month to pay for the long term control plan to prevent seven billion gallons of sewage spills a year. The less water going into the system should lower sewer bills.

His goal is to reduce the size of sewer mains and drain pipes by reducing the volume of water entering the system. He is pushing to plant more trees and create wetlands to absorb drainage water. Sherman is encouraging people to voluntarily reuse water by collecting runoff from their roofs. The recycled water would be for lawn care and washing cars. He estimated it could reduce the amount of water entering the sewer system by 5% to 15%.

The DPW is coordinating with other utilities to "spend the dollar once." Sherman wants to end the practice of tearing a street up multiple times to do separate infrastructure projects. The DPW is starting to address problems with a holistic approach.

Sherman invited the group to share ideas on how they wanted to see their tax dollars spent. He said the weather forecasters the department relied on last year for snow predictions were one for twenty-five. He thinks he could divert $1.5 million to road improvements if he waits until a half-inch of snow has fallen before salting. He asked the audience when he should send snow plows into residential neighborhoods.

Scott Rosenberger, Eagledale Lafayette Square Area Weed and Seed Executive Director, said he was willing to wait for a six-inch snow fall.

"Six inches or better in residential area, I need to come get you," Sherman quipped in response.

He said "basically at 11 o'clock at night I or somebody else in our department make the decision," because it cost about $200,000 to send contractors into residential areas last year. He expected the amount to climb due to insurance increases.

Sherman has also reduced the number of steps to fill in potholes. A pothole complaint use to require 25 steps and 17 days until it was filled. Now the time has dropped to 11 steps and two to three days to fill the hole.

Not only does Sherman want to reduce the amount of time devoted to pothole repairs, he plans to reduce the number of potholes by reviving the crack and seal program to preserve the roads from deteriorating during the freeze-thaw cycle.

The DPW is also responsible for maintaining the city's aging vehicle fleet that includes about 800 police cars. "Sixty percent of the solid waste trucks don't function very well." The aging transportation fleet costs more in repairs than the vehicle's residual value.

Sherman continues to examine other financial challenges to find cost efficiencies. He wants to institute a free recycling program by 2010.