There have been some further changes to the organizational structure at North Battleford City Hall.
The changes mainly involve a split of functions of the operations department currently headed by Stewart Schafer.
According to City Manager Jim Puffalt, the operations and maintenance department will be split into two new departments, one being Utilities and the other being Infrastructure Maintenance.
Schafer will stay on as Director of Utilities, with the department focusing on water and sewer maintenance, the two water treatment plants, wastewater treatment, the waste management facility and the airport.
The other separate department will be the Department of Infrastucture Maintenance, which will include roadways, parks and green space, forestry and shops, mechanics and equipment.
Schafer will remain in charge of those responsibilities until a new director of Infrastructure Maintenance is recruited. Both directors will report to Puffalt.
The Operations and Maintenance Department was created as part of the 2014 customer service review, which resulted in reorganizations of several departments. Operations and maintenance included the former Public Works Department and also Parks and Recreation.
The reason these changes are being made, Puffalt indicated, is because conditions have changed since 2014.
He noted that water and wastewater treatment and distribution is regulated, and “it seems there is at least one major issue every year and multiple smaller ones.” He pointed to the water hammer incident of 2015 at F.E. Holliday, the oil spill in 2016, as well as a leak in the water tower late in 2016. He also pointed to a power outage just two weeks ago that caused issues.
“That certainly takes away from that larger department trying to manage everything that happens there,” said Puffalt.
“And so we believe that this shift, this splitting of duties will allow us to take an expertise and put those people with the greatest expertise in this area to spend the time in that area.”
