Gilbert Public Works Performance Management

Gilbert Public Works is one of the Town’s largest departments with several different divisions that handle various aspects of the Town’s infrastructure and public utilities.

The Public Works department uses the following dashboards to assist with their daily operations:

  1. Solid Waste and Recycling
  2. Graffiti and Potholes
  3. Wastewater

Legend:

  • Monitoring
  • Meeting Target
  • Near Target
  • Needs Improvement

Note: Some dashboards have multiple sections. You can switch between them by clicking the tabs at the top of each one.

Solid Waste and Recycling

Waste collection is an essential service in every community and a massive undertaking for a town as large as Gilbert.

The most important goal of waste collection is to protect public health, but Gilbert Public Works is also focused on protecting the environment, conserving space and natural resources, reducing waste, and maintaining community aesthetics. 

Monitoring the number of missed trash and recycling pickups helps the team recognize and prevent potential issues in the system while Gilbert’s container maintenance program prolongs the lifespan of its curbside trash and recycling cans. 

Missed Pickups

The Goal: Miss less than .05% of Gilbert’s daily trash and recycling pickups.  

Gilbert’s solid waste trucks provide service to 83,000 homes each week.  

Monitoring the number of missed trash and recycling pickups helps the Town’s Public Works Department: 

  • Identify staffing issues or gaps in service delivery 
  • Recognize updates needed to the service map
  • Distinguish the need for more driver training  

Container Repairs

The Goal: Repair all broken trash and recycling cans within five business days of the initial request and schedule all maintenance services to be performed on the day after the containers are set out for trash and recycling collection. 

Gilbert’s container maintenance program is a pivotal element in providing waste collection services for the community as it helps maintain and extend the lifespan of the Town’s trash and recycling containers while also: 

  • Supporting sustainable waste management practices  
  • Reducing costs associated with waste collection
  • Enhances waste collection efficiency
  • Maintains community cleanliness
  • Helping Gilbert meet environmental and regulatory standards

In 2022, Gilbert’s Solid Waste and Recycling division serviced 21,609 broken cans through the container maintenance program. 

Making container repairs the day after a customer’s scheduled collection day is ideal because the trash and recycling cans are usually empty.

Graffiti and Potholes

The Gilbert Public Works Department also oversees several quality-of-life and safety services within the community including pothole repairs and graffiti removal. 

Repairing potholes in Gilbert’s roadways is essential for safety, preventing vehicle damage, and improving driving conditions and traffic flows in our community while removing graffiti issues helps the Town maintain a clean and visually appealing environment. 

Graffiti Removal 

The Goal: Remove 90% of graffiti reported by residents through Gilbert 311. 

A small percentage of the graffiti requests are not completed because the graffiti is not reachable. It could be under a bridge, for example.  

In other cases, the Town may receive several different reports for the same piece of graffiti.  

Pothole Repairs

The Goal: Repair 90% of potholes reported by residents through Gilbert 311.

Potholes can create a safety hazard on our roads. That’s why Gilbert is committed to addressing these issues quickly.

While our maintenance teams aim to repair 100% of the potholes reported, there are a few challenges when it comes to data quality and the way these issues are reported, tracked, and repaired  

In a small number of cases, a single pothole may need several repairs or multiple potholes might be reported as one but are then separated in the Town’s work order system.  

These differences create small discrepancies and, while our teams work to keep them to a minimum, they will only be eliminated as we refine our processes and continue to check the quality of our data. 

Additionally, potholes are only a single factor among many when it comes to the condition of a road or street. 

We track the quality of road segments using a Pavement Condition Index (PCI), a series of numbers, ranking roads based on the severity of defects present.  

A road segment’s PCI ranges from 0-100 with 100 representing a road that is in perfect condition 

The more a road is used, defects like potholes, cracks, and recesses form and the condition of that road worsens. 

When a road reaches a PCI of 40 or below, a road is added to a backlog where it is scheduled for partial or full reconstruction as opposed to repair. 

Maintaining a low percentage of backlog for pavement management is crucial for safety, cost-effectiveness, user satisfaction, infrastructure longevity, and economic well-being.

Wastewater

Wastewater collection is another essential function of Gilbert’s Public Works Department. 

To protect public health and ensure optimal functionality of the Town’s wastewater collection system, Gilbert schedules regular sewer pipe cleanings and routinely monitors its infrastructure using video technology. 

Sewer Pipe Cleaning

The Goal: Clean 20% of Gilbert’s wastewater collection system annually which equals 182 miles of sewer pipes. 

This ambitious target is set to ensure a systematic approach to maintaining the wastewater system’s integrity and functionality.  

These regular cleanings play a critical role in preventing blockages and long-term damage to Gilbert’s infrastructure as well as:  

  • Protecting public health and alleviating odors within the community 
  • Preventing early sewer pipe, manhole or lift station failures 
  • Reducing hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that can form from septic conditions 
  • Mitigating potential financial damage claims caused by sewer issues  

Gilbert uses a pressure washing system to clean its sewer pipes. The trucks that clean the pipes are equipped with 1,300-gallon water tanks that spray water at 1,500 to 2,000 pounds per square inch. 

The cleaning process relies heavily on the experience and knowledge of the maintenance team and targets hotspot areas in the system that need more frequent cleanings. 

Video Monitoring and Inspections 

The Goal: Conduct regular video inspections on 15% of the Gilbert’s sewer pipes a year which equals 137 miles. 

Regular video inspections of the Town’s sewer pipes using closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) offer a comprehensive visual assessment of pipe conditions and provide essential information regarding the location, severity, and extent of any issues encountered in the pipes.  

These inspections ensure a proactive and efficient approach to managing Gilbert’s sewer system and allow staff members to make informed decisions, prioritize resources effectively, and ultimately enhance the overall functionality and longevity of the sewer network. 

These video inspections help the Gilbert Public Works Department: 

  • Identify pipes in poor condition 
  • Prevent overestimations in repair costs  
  • Detect illegal sewer connections 
  • Identify sources of inflow and/or infiltration 
  • Locate buried or lost manholes 
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the Town’s pipe-cleaning operations 

Environmental Compliance

[[Dashboard Coming Soon]]

Managing stormwater in Gilbert is important to reduce flooding, keep people safe, maintain clean water, and to reduce soil erosion. The Environmental Compliance Team has worked closely with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to determine the appropriate goals for stormwater management to remain in compliance with our MS4 Stormwater Permit. The goal that has been established for the team is to clean 20%, or 84,000 linear feet of pipe, of the Town’s stormwater infrastructure every year.

Stormwater System Cleaning

The purpose of cleaning the storm system pipe and structures is to maintain their proper functionality and prevent blockages caused by sediment, trash, and debris buildup. The goal of cleaning 7,000 feet a month is to ensure the stormwater infrastructure remains in good condition and can effectively handle water flow during storms.

However, achieving this goal has been challenging due to the high level of sediment, trash, and debris in the pipes and structures. Cleaning a single 500-foot pipe takes 10 to 15 passes, which significantly hampers the progress towards the monthly target.

Additionally, external factors like contracting the work out due to lack of resources has also hindered our progress. When relying on contractors we often see equipment failure and employee absences that have also affected the efficiency of the cleaning process. The contractors are also required to have a CDL, which puts limitations on the time that they can operate the truck, this includes travel time. We also have a decrease in productivity due to our employees having to meet the contractor to get them set up with maps and locations, which takes them away from their other daily tasks. The inflated costs of contracting have also affected our budget availability to clean year-round. We typically can only clean 3 days of the week and run out of funds before the year is over.

To improve progress towards our goal, we have been approved to purchase our own cleaning equipment and staff. After the implementation of our new resources, and learning curve, we anticipate meeting if not exceeding our current goal.

Stormwater Structure Inspections

Stormwater cleaning and inspections are to ensure the stormwater infrastructure remains in good condition and can effectively handle water flow during storms to prevent flooding and ensure safety. The Environmental Compliance Team has worked closely with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to determine the appropriate goals for stormwater management to remain in compliance with our MS4 Stormwater Permit. The goal that has been established for the team is to inspect 4,992 stormwater structures every year.

Recently, we made some changes to the software templates used for inspections, which have resulted in discrepancies in the data recorded. This change was implemented to capture inspection start and end time. Additionally, because of this change we have noticed that different employees are using varied methods to input inspection information before moving it to work orders.

We discovered the discrepancy through the Performance Management process and are currently working with IT and our inspectors to streamline our process and ensure that we are consistent and uniform with data entry. While we are currently meeting our goals, we understand that the data does not reflect the proper quantities, but will have the data corrected as soon as possible, allowing us to tell an accurate story.