Utility breaks away from Public Works

Beginning this week, two key city departments have been de-coupled in an effort to streamline services and more effectively manage spending.

The Marco Island Water and Sewer Department has now been established to function as its own utility, responsible for all water and sewer plant operations. Public Works will continue to maintain city roads, city right of way, the collection and distribution of water and sewer and other field operations.

Interim City Manager Jim Riviere explains that the increase in users to the system caused the utility to outgrow its place as part of the public works department.

“We now have 50 percent more people on city sewer [than before the Septic Tank Replacement Program]. We have separated the departments so they can attend to their missions independently of each other,” he explained.

City Council has called for a two-step approach towards the management of the city’s water utility. First, a consultant’s evaluation of the utility program’s operating efficiency, and depending on the findings, bids from a private firm to run the water/sewer program. Breaking out the management of the treatment plants creates a clear entity to be the focus of that assessment process.

City Council Chairman Frank Recker applauded the move, saying, “this re-configuration of the departments will lead to better transparency and cost control.”

Rony Joel, formerly the city’s public works director, will now be the general manager of the Water and Sewer Department, which employs approximately 86 people. Says Joel, “I’m excited for the opportunity to focus exclusively on utility operations. We can find ways to reduce the cost of operations and still maintain the high level of services and water quality that Marco Islanders expect.”

The Water and Sewer Department will encompass the north and south water plant, the waste water treatment plant and the Marco Shores waste water treatment plant.

Riviere agrees, “We are coming to the end of a five year project of intense capital spending. The Water and Sewer Department is charged with making the best of the capital they now have. There will be more accountability.”

Timothy Pinter, a senior project manager for the Public Works Department, has now been promoted to its director. Public Works will remain responsible for the pipes that carry clean water and remove waste water within the city right of way.

“We want one organization responsible for the right of way that has total capability to deal with roads and pipes,” says Riviere.

Pinter is a licensed project engineer with experience in Ohio and Nevada as well as Florida. He believes a now-streamlined public works department will better serve the community.

“When people call for service there will be one single point of contact instead of a couple layers of bureaucracy with both public works and utilities, over who fixes the road and who fixes the pipes. The city manager wants to turn it into a one-stop shop, with the ultimate goal being the health and safety of Marco Island.”