What Happened?
The city of New London, CT, is considering the consolidation of its Public Works and Public Utilities departments. The city, with a population of 27,620, could theoretically benefit from more efficient operations. But the move won’t save any money, at least not in the short term.
The Benefits
Often, when public works and utilities departments are kept separate, there can be confusion and counter-productivity; horror stories have become nearly commonplace in which a utilities division destroys recently completed infrastructure work. New London’s mayor, Daryl Finizio, recently admitted such, stating, “We don’t want to pave a road, only to rip it up months later to do utility work.”
So the main benefits should be improved communication, better planning, more cooperation, and a more efficient running of major infrastructure projects.
Easy Peasy
The consolidation should be eased by the fact that no jobs are being eliminated, and no office moves are necessary.
The Downside
Of course, the downside is that savings will be minimal, as all jobs will be retained.
The Details
According to reports, the utilities department will become part of the Public Works Department, with the utilities director becoming a “deputy director of public works,” reporting into the director. Currently, the utilities department operates separately from the city; it has its own water and sewer budgets, at about $5.8 million and $5.2 million, respectively.
Next Steps
Further reading and comparables for research:
Original coverage in the New London “Patch,” on AOL, can be found hereCoverage from TheDay.com can be found here
There are many other examples of public works and utilities companies that have recently merged. In 1999, the departments merged in Duluth, MN, to create a Public Works & Utilities Department.
In Huntington Beach, CA, sewer and water divisions were merged in 2004 to form a new Utilities Division of the Public Works.
And earlier this year, three divisions in Louisville, KY— The Metropolitan Sewer District, Metro Public Works and the Louisville Water Company—considered consolidating.
Gov1 will continue to track this issue in the coming months.