SECTION 5.01
Public Works Departments

There shall be six (6) departments and an Office of Business Operations and Capital Programs as described in Section 5.02 of the Plan of Government, as amended, and further that there will be one Director for each of the departments created and established in accordance with Section 5.02 of the Plan of Government, as amended. (As amended December 6, 2014)

SECTION 5.02
Organization and Functions

The following departments are hereby created and established:

(a) The Department of Environmental Services shall include a Wastewater Division which will be responsible for wastewater operations, maintenance, engineering, construction and finance/administrative resources; and a Sanitation Division which shall be responsible for solid waste, landfill, recycling, solid waste environmental functions, overseeing Department of Environmental Quality compliance, garbage cart management, City and Parish recycling programs, landfill management and management of the City and Parish solid waste collection contractor. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(b) The Department of Transportation & Drainage shall include transportation-related functions including oversight of traffic engineering, traffic operations, traffic signal and sign installation and maintenance, parking meter maintenance, road closures and public notifications, taxicab inspections, traffic volume counts, oversight of the Advance Traffic Management Center, traffic volume and average daily traffic calculations, traffic analysis and associated studies, street and curb painting, support for construction of capital improvements projects, inspection and compliance for new roadway construction, peer reviews of design and engineering plans, project management, support engineering services for capital improvements programs involving highways, bridges, drainage, and flood control, bridge inspections, contractor oversight for engineering studies and design engineering, and flood control measures including levee permits and inspections, bridge repair, guard rail repair, and road rehabilitation programs with oversight of contracted program management team. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(c) The Department of Maintenance shall include drainage maintenance functions such as roadside ditch digging and off-road canal excavation, canal debris removal, inspections of roadside ditches and canals, vector truck operations, storm drain and catch basin repair concrete work, erosion remediation, land and surveying for property lines, landscape and forestry, oversight of grass maintenance functions involving mowing, weed eating, and litter clean up, and street maintenance functions for asphalt, pothole patching, tree maintenance and demolitions. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(d) The Department of Development shall include development-related functions such as the subdivision office, which includes engineering functions involving work plan reviews, field inspections and environmental reviews, flood zone determinations, FEMA floodplain maps, permitting for residential and commercial purposes (building plan review and approval), inspections and code enforcement for addressing, building occupancy, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical needs, code enforcement for blight elimination including zoning ordinance compliance, blight and litter elimination, and condemnations and demolitions. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(e) The Department of Buildings and Grounds shall include oversight of City and Parish infrastructure-related functions and buildings such as public building maintenance, which also includes Sheriff's office and substations, Parish prison, City and District Court buildings, and River Center maintenance, City and Parish owned parking garages and architectural services. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(f) The Department of Fleet Management shall include oversight and management of Central Garage functions, including maintenance and repairs for all City and Parish vehicles, as well as in-house maintenance for all City and Parish equipment such as tractors, bulldozers, and excavators. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(g) The Office of Business Operations and Capital Programs is hereby created and established for the purpose of providing essential business and programmatic support for the departments described in Section 5.02. (As amended December 6, 2014)

(h) Such other Departments or other units of administration, with such powers and duties as may be required by the action of the Council whose budget is to provide the cost thereof. (As amended December 6, 2014)

SECTION 5.03
Department of Public Works Financing

The compensation of the Directors of Environmental Services, Transportation & Drainage, Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds, Fleet Management, and Development and the number and compensation of the officers and employees in these departments shall be set by the Metropolitan Council. The cost, however, of operating the Departments of Building & Grounds, Maintenance and Fleet Management, if established, shall be distributed between the several departments, divisions, offices and agencies using the services of the same,, by means of a system of charges for such services, based on actual cost, to be established by the Council. The Council is hereby specifically authorized to establish by appropriation revolving funds for each of these departments, to be replenished by the charges above provided. (As amended December 6, 2014)

SECTION 5.04
Director of Public Works
Qualification, Powers and Duties

Each of the Directors of the Departments as described in Section 5.02 shall (i) have received a college degree (which must include the completion of engineering courses, or business management courses, or public administration management courses), from an accredited four (4) year college or university, and (ii) have at least ten (10) years of relevant administrative/management experience. Each Director shall have the general management and control of such Director's respective Department, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this Plan of Government, shall appoint and remove all the officers and employees of such Department and shall have power to make rules and regulations for the conduct of its business consistent with the Plan of Government and the ordinances of the Council. The Department of Environmental Services, the Department of Transportation & Drainage, and the Department of Development shall each have at least one (1) Chief Engineer, in responsible charge, as defined by Title 37 of L.R.S., who shall, as a minimum, be a professional engineer licensed to practice in the State of Louisiana.)

The Department of Buildings and Grounds shall have at least one (1) Chief Architect who as a minimum shall be a licensed architect registered in the State of Louisiana. (As amended December 6, 2014)