Public Works Family Event

The City of North Bay will celebrate National Public Works Week May 21-27 with a Family Fun Day event at Lee Park on Friday, May 26, 2023, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. The event will include displays and activities featuring heavy equipment and traffic signals, information about the City’s water and wastewater treatment facilities, and its recycling and landfill operations. The City’s Roads Department will also be accepting submissions for its Name the Plow initiative – an opportunity for the public to name five of our snowplows ahead the next winter season.

Public Works Week is celebrated annually across North America as an opportunity to educate residents about public works and to celebrate the work of the of our public works professionals. This year’s theme is Connecting the World through Public Works.

Parks

Parks Department, which maintains the grounds at more than 70 park areas, including all our municipal parks, beaches, playgrounds, and green spaces.

Parks staff are responsible for maintaining various parks buildings, the marina, Family of Rotary Splash Pad, picnic shelters, outdoor rinks, paved pathways, and nature trails.  They oversee maintenance within the boundaries of the Downtown Improvement Area and take care of flower beds and planters in various locations throughout the City.

Our Parks team also maintains 20 sports fields, including those for soccer, baseball, and football, where kids and adults compete, stay active, and have fun. They’re duties include everything from grass cutting and garbage removal to playground inspections, tree management, and more. Thank you to our parks team for the work you do every day!

Water and Sewer

Water and Sewer Department, which is responsible for delivering clean, safe drinking water, treating our wastewater, and making sure our water and sewer lines, valves, and fire hydrants are in good working order.

Our water and sewer team oversees the operation of our wastewater treatment facility and water treatment plant, which processes about seven billion gallons of water each year. They’re responsible for the maintenance and repair of approximately 303 km of watermain, 270 km of sanitary main, 226 km of storm main, 1458 fire hydrants, 2483 watermain valves and 16 sanitary lift stations, and 10,200 structures.

They’re also the ones responding to emergency repairs in all weather conditions and at all times of the day and night. Thank you to our water and sewer team for the work you do every day!

Roads

Roads Department, which helps to keep the City moving by making sure residents and visitors are able to get to where they going.

Our roads team is responsible for the maintenance and repair of more than 800 lane kilometers of arterial, collector, and residential streets. This includes everything from shouldering, sweeping, and cleaning to boulevard maintenance, as well as snow plowing and snow removal, sanding, and salting during the winter months. They maintain and replace sidewalks,   reshape ditches, maintain bridges, maintain and repair entrance culverts, concrete curbs, and asphalt gutters.

They oversee street lighting, including 3,554 lights on residential streets, 1,837 on collector and arterial roads, and 31 airport terminal lights. They also oversee pavement marking, traffic control signal maintenance and improvements, traffic and street name sign maintenance and repair, railway crossing and guide rail maintenance, and traffic counting, as well as barricade and signage for street work. Thank you to our roads team for the work you do every day!

Fleet

Fleet Department, which is responsible for the ongoing maintenance, repair, parts, inventory, replacement, and management of all city-owned vehicles.

 They make sure vehicles and heavy equipment such as buses, fire apparatus, sewer and water vac trucks, plow and sander trucks, bucket and crane utility trucks, heavy equipment, loaders/backhoes, snow blowers, and specialized road-building equipment are maintained and meet safety standards for our front-line workers. In total, the City has approximately 263 vehicles with an additional 512 components and attachments which has an estimated replacement value of $55 million. 

 Fleet transitioned in 2018 to a real-time Fleet Management Information System which provides operational and cost data to drive the business forward using analytics. Working with each user department, Fleet has installed telematics and service processes to better serve customers, City operations, and utilization. Thank you to our fleet team for the work you do every day!

Environmental Services

Environmental Services Department, which is responsible for the City’s environmental programs, including the operation of the Merrick Landfill Site.

Our environmental services team educates residents about the importance of waste reduction and reuse. The team oversees contracted services for the operation of the Material Recovery Facility, waste collection, and the Blue Box recycling program, which provides more than 19,000 households with curbside pick-up.

Environmental Services also operates the City’s Household Hazardous Waste Depot located at 112 Patton Street, where residents are encouraged to drop leaf and yard waste, scrap metal, electronics, and household hazardous materials such as leftover paints and old batteries so they can be disposed of properly and don’t end up harming the environment. 

At the Merrick Landfill, site operations include weigh scale, leachate treatment, groundwater and surface water sampling, and landfill gas collection, which is helping to reduce methane emissions and our carbon footprint. Thank you to our environmental service team for the work you do every day!