(A) Establishment; appointment and term. There is hereby established the office of Director of Public Works. He or she shall be appointed by the Mayor, by and with the advice and consent of Council, in the same manner and for the same term as other city officers are appointed.
(B) Bond. The Director, before entering upon the duties of his or her office, shall execute a bond to the city as prescribed by law.
(C) Duties generally. The Director shall:
(1) Locate and establish lines and grades of sidewalks, streets, alleys, avenues and other public ways in the city, when requested to do so by the Mayor and Council;
(2) Make surveys in and for the city that may be ordered by Council, and enter into the plat book of the city all plats and changes of plats approved by Council;
(3) Make, prepare and submit all necessary plans, maps, plats, profiles, specifications, ordinances and estimates for any public works or improvements which may be proposed or ordered by Council, or required by the City Attorney or by the Board of Local Improvements;
(4) Superintend the laying down of gas or steam pipes and electric light and telephone conduits, and determine their location, to regulate and control the erection and location of electric light, telephone, street light poles or posts, traffic signs and signals, subject always to the direction of the Mayor and Council;
(5) Make all estimates for payment on contracts as the work under the Director’s supervision progresses and as may be required under specifications and contracts and the ordinances of the city;
(6) (a) Furnish all the necessary lines and grades of streets and alleys, or portions thereof, to persons wishing to use the same for the purpose of properly locating and constructing any sidewalk, curbing or building, within ten days of the date of application for lines or grades, upon the terms and payment of fees as set forth in this division. However, the Director may depart from the established grade of any sidewalk whenever, in the judgment of Council, the surrounding conditions demand it.
(b) The terms and fees which shall be charged and demanded in advance for the benefit of the city from the owners of property ordering work to be performed, or against whom the work is properly chargeable, shall be as determined by Council.
(7) Carefully preserve in his or her office all engineering field notes, maps, profiles, papers, books, writings or records made by the Director or coming to, or being in his or her office, and arrange and index the same in a manner that a ready reference may be had thereto;
(8) Keep a systematic record of all transactions in the Department of Public Works and record, in a suitable book to be provided by the city, all grades and benchmarks established by the Mayor and Council, all books and records to be the exclusive property of the city; and
(9) In all cases where proceedings are now pending or may hereafter be brought by the city under ILCS Ch. 65, Act 5, §§ 9-1-1 et seq., as amended, for a local improvement consisting only of the taking or damaging of property for the purpose of opening, extending or widening a street, alley or other public highway, upon the entry of an order by the court in which any proceeding may be pending granting to the city the right to take possession of or damage the property therein condemned and in respect to which compensation shall have been made or deposited as provided by law, the Director shall cause to be removed, from the land so taken for the purpose of opening, extending or widening the highway, any building or part thereof situated thereon and, to an extent as may be necessary, shall cause to be removed, moved or altered any sidewalk, curb, pavement, fence or other thing on the land or on any public highway connecting with the land, whenever the same constitutes an obstruction to public travel on land or to and from the land and any intersecting or connecting public highway. The Director shall also cause the surface of the land and of the highway intersections or connections to be made passable for public travel, and so far as the work may be necessary for the purpose, he or she shall cause the surface of the land and the intersections and connections of the same with any highway to be raised or lowered, ditches and open spaces to be excavated or filled, culverts to be placed and railroad tracks to be planked. However, if at the time of the entry of an order of possession, there is either pending or confirmed under the Local Improvement Act of 1897, as amended, a proceeding for paying or otherwise improving the surface of the land so taken for highway purposes, then the Director shall do or cause to be done the remainder of the work only when and in case the latter proceedings are not confirmed or executed. All work to be done by the Director shall be paid for out of the General Fund of the city. However, if the proceedings are both for the taking of land and the making of a local improvement by special assessment, as one proceeding, the Director shall do only work of removing or filling as may not be provided for by the improvement ordinance upon which the proceeding is based.
(D) Records of accounts. In a manner which can be readily understood and investigated, the Director shall cause to be kept vouchers of all expenditures of the Department of Public Works and records of all other financial transactions of the office, which records shall be preserved on file in the Department. The vouchers and records, together with all other papers and files of the Department, shall be at all times open to the examination of the Mayor or any member of Council.
(E) Attending Council Meetings; reports to Council.
(1) The Director, when requested, shall attend meetings of Council. He or she shall, when required by Council, inquire into and report upon any of the matters within the control of the Department of Public Works, and shall, from time to time, communicate to the Mayor and Council any information or suggestion which he or she may deem important in relation thereto.
(2) The Director shall, on or before January 15 of each year, prepare a report showing the accounts, expenditures and entire work of the Department of Public Works during the past fiscal year and shall submit the same to Council as soon thereafter as may be practical.
(F) Supervision of public property. The Director, subject to the provisions of this section and the ordinances of the city, shall take special charge and superintendence of all streets, alleys, lanes and highways in the city and of all walks, crosswalks, bridges, tunnels, viaducts, public places and public grounds, except those areas commonly referred to as small parks (except Mraz Park), which areas are under the supervision and charge of the Playground and Recreation Commission. The Director shall cause the prompt repair of streets, alleys, lanes, highways and public places whenever the same are taken up and altered, and of all engine houses and other public buildings in the city belonging to the city, and shall cause the erection of all public buildings of the city, the street lighting system and power station of the city and all traffic signs and signals. The Director shall also take special charge and superintendence of the Waterworks and Sewerage Department and shall have the overall supervision, management and control of the maintenance, enlargement and operation of the waterworks and sewerage system now owned by the city and under its control, the procuring and selling of water thereby and the preservation of the property thereof.
(G) Supervision of improvements and garbage collection and removal. The Director shall have general supervision over all public improvements and city-owned utilities in the city and shall, subject to the ordinances of the city, direct the manner of using the streets, alleys, lanes, highways, city-owned water and sewerage utilities and public places of the city where improvements are being installed or repairs are being made, including the erection of electric light, telephone, street light, traffic light and other poles, the erection of posts, signs, canopies and other overhead structures and the laying down of gas, steam, water and other pipes and electric light and telephone conduits, authorized by law, and the location thereof, when no superior authority of the state has supervision.
(1) The Director shall cause prompt repair of streets, alleys, lanes, highways, utilities and public places whenever the same are taken up or altered. The Director shall also see that, during the progress of the construction, alteration, placement or installation, the location thereof is in a safe condition to prevent accident by erecting barriers and notices where required.
(2) He or she shall have charge of the removal and disposal of garbage and other household waste, provided, however, that the abatement and removal of all nuisances affecting the health of residents shall be in the special charge and under the control of the Board of Health.
(H) Authority as police officer. In order to enable the Director faithfully and perfectly to do and perform all the duties required of him or her, he or she is hereby vested with all the powers conferred on police officers by the statutes of the state and ordinances of the city, and he or she is hereby appointed a special police officer of the city.
(I) Authority regarding other personnel.
(1) In Department of Public Works. The Director of Public Works shall, with the approval of the Mayor, appoint and remove all Deputy Commissioners and assistants in the Department of Public Works, except the Director of Buildings.
(a) All subordinates shall perform duties as may be required of them by the Director or the ordinances of the city and as shall be prescribed by the Director. The salaries of the subordinates shall be as Council may prescribe or approve.
(b) Deputy Commissioners of the Department may be appointed to assist in conducting, under the supervision of the Director, the Streets and Sanitation Department, the Plumbing Inspection Department and the Electrical Inspection Department. The Deputy Commissioners shall be appointed only when the appointment has been provided for in the annual appropriation ordinance.
(2) In Waterworks and Sewerage Department. The Director shall also approve all appointments to the staff of the Waterworks and Sewerage Department, except that of the Superintendent of Water who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of Council, as provided in § 230.04(B). The Superintendent and assistants in the Department shall perform duties as may be required by the ordinances of the city and as prescribed by the Director.
(3) Bonds. The Director of Public Works shall require good and sufficient bonds to be given to the city by all subordinate officers and employees in the Department of Public Works, who shall receive the care, custody or handling of monies belonging to the city, which bonds shall be approved by the Mayor and Council.
(Ord. passed 7-9-1973; Ord. passed 5-23-1977; Ord. passed 4-24-1978)