National Public Works Week

What do pipes, trucks, broken water mains, greener garbage, natural areas, playgrounds and all things in between have in common? Parks and Public Works!


This year, the theme is Advancing Quality of Life for All, reminding us that every public works professional strives to improve the quality of life for the community they serve, leading to healthier, happier communities.

Public works help keep our community strong by providing an infrastructure of services in transportation, water, wastewater, and stormwater treatment, public buildings and spaces, parks, solid waste, and right-of-way management. They are what make our community a great place to live and work. Join us in celebrating the quiet work these professionals do that makes life better for all of us.

Thanks, public works! You are at the heart of Saanich – from roads and transportation to healthy drinking water and sanitation. Public works is there!

We have a number of staff profiles in recognition of the week, have a read below and find out about these dedicated individuals!

What is your name, position, section you work for?

Andrew (Andy) Dennett, Certified Parts Person, Fleet Centre.

How long have you worked at Saanich?

March 2001, entering my 23rd year.

What does a typical day look like for you?

No such thing as a typical day! Fleet Center has four day mechanics and four night shift mechanics, I order the parts for all eight mechanics. I never know what I’m going to be ordering until I start my working day. I also look after the Fleet Inventory including fuel, diesel, and unleaded, and answer most of the calls for the Fleet Centre. 

Tell me about one of your most memorable projects or situations.

JD Edwards training, Saanich started JD Edwards in 2003.  During 2002 I was one of many Saanich employees that took the initial JDE training, it was a huge undertaking and a great challenge for me but when we went live I was very comfortable with the program and helped many fellow workers with their concerns.

What do you enjoy about your job?

I’ve been doing this type of work for 40+ years and I enjoy searching out parts, like I said I never know what I’m going to be ordering on an average day. Every day there is something different to do, different to order.

What’s your most valued ‘go-to’ piece of equipment, why?

Maybe not technically a piece of equipment but my go-to would be Google for sure. It helps me source out parts, a lot easier, especially oddball requests.

What is one thing nobody would know about your job or fun fact about your job/section?

How complex the automotive/heavy truck industry is today compared to the earlier days. In the old days there were a lot of mechanical controlled components, nowadays they are electronic controlled components. So much more work!

 If there is one thing you’d like residents to know about your job, what would that be?

I don’t’ know if residents realize that Saanich has an in-house Fleet Centre that is responsible for all the maintenance of approximately 300 pieces of equipment and vehicles, including the Saanich Police Department!  This includes all preventative maintenance, annual commercial vehicle inspections, and day-to-day repairs to all of these pieces of equipment and vehicles.

What is your name, position, section you work for?

Joe Vassallo, Parks Worker II, Saanich Parks Maintenance

How long have you worked at Saanich?

Since 1980, 43 years

What does a typical day look like for you?

Anything from Mowing Sportsfields, Sportsturf cultural practices, Rough Mowing, Bucket work, Maintaining Ballfield granite surfaces, Dumping in Parks, Homelessness issues, refuse collection, Snow, and Ice control/removal at all Parks/Facilities in Saanich, catch basin maintenance in Parks, Parking lot maintenance, Tennis/pickleball/Lacrosse court maintenance, and responding to Requests for Service.

What are some of your interests outside of work?

Travelling, collecting shoes, vino.

Tell us about one of your most memorable projects or situations.

The field renovation at Glanford Sportsfield. Removed the upper field surface, replaced with 800 yards of kitchen compost mixed with sand and resodded with big roll sod.

What do you enjoy about your job?

Working with younger staff and teaching them about what we do.

What’s your most valued ‘go-to’ piece of equipment, why?

19-611 John Deere Tractor – It’s been my baby for over a decade.

What is one thing nobody would know about your job or fun fact about your job/section?

Watching younger staff do things because they think they know better. And then teaching them the right way.

If there is one thing, you’d like residents to know about your job, what would that be?

My smile and positive attitude.

What is your name, position, section you work for?

Dave Cerovec, Tandem Operator, Street Operations (Roads).

How long have you worked at Saanich?

Starting my 23rd year.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I don’t know what my day’s going to look until I come in the morning and find out who I’m working with.  Once that is sorted out, before leaving the yard, first thing I do is complete a  pre-trip on my truck to make sure everything is good to go then I head out to the site or depending on which crew I’m working with for the day, if we’re paving then I’d head to Island Asphalt and grab mix to take it to the site.  I’m either picking up or dumping materials to/from sites.

Tell me about one of your most memorable projects or situations.

About 15 years ago, we had a major watermain break at Wilkinson and Burnside causing a huge sink hole and flooded homes. We worked 12+ hours straight (on a Saturday) coordinating between Saanich and the CRD.  While crews were working to fix the main, I was bringing in the gravel to fill and pave afterwards. We were all working as quickly as we could to repair and get the road re-opened.

What do you enjoy about your job?

I love driving. I also like the fact that I’m working at different locations and with different crews all the time. Depending on the time of year, I work with whichever section needs me, and during the winter, I’m on the snow and ice crew, I’ll be plowing and salting roads.

What’s your most valued ‘go-to’ piece of equipment, why?

My truck, it’s like my office. I like to keep it as clean as possible, there’s a lot of dust from the sites.

What is one thing nobody would know about your job or fun fact about your job/section?

When snow plowing, we’re rotating 12-HOUR shifts, putting on about 200 km a shift diving in sometimes severe winter conditions to clear the roads for the safety of our residents.

If there is one thing you’d like residents to know about your job, what would that be?

When snow plowing, please do not pass us, it’s very dangerous. The safest place is to stay behind us and give us some room, we just want to make the roads safer for residents.

What is your name, position, and section you work for?

Miles Alexander, Traffic Signal Technician II for the Street Operations Section.

How long have you worked at Saanich?

Eight years.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Fire up the big bucket truck, perform a vehicle safety inspection, and respond to an overhead traffic signal with a failed colour (red, yellow,or green). Set up a temporary work zone in the intersection to allow myself and my partner to operate the bucket and rise above traffic to repair the colored LED. Once complete we try to slow our heart rate down with some coffee.

Next is Intersection preventative maintenance including:

Traffic cabinet detail, pedestrian and vehicle detection inspection, battery backup test, underground junction box cleaning (hello spiders!). If I am lucky the day will end with a good chuckle among the rest of my Dept. We trade stories of the days events and any challenges we faced and fill each other in on the pulse of Saanich.

Tell me about one of your most memorable projects or situations.

Working with local High school students to promote traffic signal experience.

I will never forget the way their faces lit up with excitement after they saw a real traffic signal and how big and bright it is up close. I also enjoyed watching them manually operate a 3-way intersection (no vehicles involved).

What do you enjoy about your job?

Making a difference for the community; not only building safe vehicle and pedestrian infrastructure but keeping it working properly is equally important. Working with my friends (co-workers), our crews are so knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to collaborating on any project. It’s nice to have professional assistance from our other departments when needed.

What’s your most valued ‘go-to’ piece of equipment, why?

Without a doubt the bucket truck makes repairs on overhead traffic signals possible. The majority of the Saanich street lighting is 30 feet above ground, I wouldn’t feel safe working off a 30 ft. stepladder.

What is one thing nobody would know about your job or fun fact about your job/section?

We maintain over 600 solar panels supplying power to various lighting infrastructure around the streets of Saanich. I think it is a fun way to harness the power of the sun and deliver it back for resident safety during the nighttime.

If there is one thing you’d like residents to know about your job, what would that be?

I have heard a lot of residents question whether there is a central monitoring station that alerts us when a traffic signal or a streetlight burns out…not true. We rely on internal staff reporting or the public to inform us of any outage that has occurred. It would be awesome to have a scale model of the District of Saanich with 10 000 little streetlights and traffic signals, (one can only dream).

Where are we located?

The Public Works and Parks operations yard is located at 1040 McKenzie Avenue

What residential services are offered at the yard?

Public Works
Parks
  • Park furniture donation program administration
  • Park permit administration
  • Tree permit administration

What can you access online?

Public Works
Parks