What Public Works Does
The City of Wilsonville’s Public Works Department contains three sections devoted to the maintenance of the city’s infrastructure; Facilities Maintenance, Roads, and Utilities.
Roads
Street Maintenance
Public Works is responsible for maintenance of all city-owned streets. Through funding provided by a road maintenance fee, Public Works has established a program that works hard to proactively address street maintenance issues before they become a burden to the public.
Street maintenance spans a wide variety of activities including:
- Snow and Ice Control
- Annual traffic line markings
- Off-road pathway repair & maintenance
- Installation and replacement of pavement legends
- Street sign installation, repair and replacement
- Roadside vegetation management
- Roadway landscaping
- Minor repairs to paved surfaces
- Street tree pruning for proper sight clearance
- Adopt-A-Road program oversight
- Traffic signal system oversight
- Street sanding during icy conditions (in high risk areas)
Public Works also oversees the Street Sweeping Program, which reduces the amount of debris and contaminants entering the stormwater system. Typically street sweeping is performed during one of the first two weeks of each month. However, during the fall, October, November, and December schedules are adjusted to obtain the maximum cleaning while maintaining cost effectiveness. View Street Sweeping Map.
Streets staff members provide response to emergencies, such as spills and traffic accidents occurring on city streets, and provide traffic, signage, and setup support for community events. In addition, staff members work with the city's Code Enforcement program to control illegally placed signs on sidewalks and in the public right-of-way.
To report a pothole, traffic signal issue, or other street problem, please use our online Citizen Request Form, or contact Public Works at 503-682-4092.
Streetlight Maintenance
The City owns and is responsible for over 2600 streetlights. Public Works manages the streetlight program, handling in-fill of new streetlights and coordinating with Portland General Electric (PGE) for maintenance of the poles and fixtures. The partnership with PGE enables reduced response time for repairs and lower long term costs.
All improved properties in the City are billed monthly for public street lighting costs based on the type of pole and fixture in their neighborhood.
If you notice any problems with the streetlights, call 503-464-7777, or fill out PGE's online street light repair form, or email PGE with the appropriate information. Please note that on most City street lights, there is a small metal tag at eye level, which has the light pole number and a map number. Locating this tag, and providing PGE with the information on it, will aid in identifying the light’s location for repair and generally speed up response times.
If you are unable to find a tag on the light pole, you may be looking at a non city-owned light. Lights in parking lots, driveways and on private streets are not operated by the City, although some may still be repaired by PGE.
For non-repair related questions or concerns about streetlights, please contact Public Works at 503-682-4092.
Utilities
Water Distribution System Maintenance
The Public Works - Water Distribution Section maintains over 80 miles of water transmission and distribution lines. In addition, they are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the City’s fire hydrants and water meters.
Water Distribution works closely with citizens to solve water related issues, such as the common water heater dip tube problem, educating the public about water heater thermal expansion and assisting in the detection and prevention of leaks. The leak prevention program has been very successful and the resulting water conservation has earned this program State recognition.
To ensure that the quality of Wilsonville's water is maintained throughout the distribution system, the City has implemented a cross-connection control (backflow prevention) program. This program, including a list of certified backflow prevention device testers, is discussed in more detail on the City's cross connection control program page.
Wilsonville’s water is supplied by the Willamette River Water Treatment Plant. The latest Water Quality Report is available online.
If you would like to report a leak, contact Public Works at 1-866-252-3614 (24hr).
Fire Hydrants
The City of Wilsonville and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue (TVF&R) are continually conducting inspections and maintenance on the City’s fire hydrant system. This project involves operating, cleaning, and, if necessary, repairing the City’s fire hydrants.
Residents can assist with this ongoing project by making sure their landscape improvements do not block access to or interfere with the operation of fire hydrants. Landscaping should not block the three caps on the side of the hydrant, which in an emergency are removed to connect fire hoses. Also, the top of the hydrant should be free of landscaping so the hydrant can be turned on without interference.
To meet these requirements, the City of Wilsonville and TVF&R require that landscaping on the sides of the caps be lower than the caps and no landscaping be within a three foot perimeter of the entire hydrant. The City of Wilsonville and TVF&R realize the importance and value of landscapes, but fire hydrants must be easily accessible to firefighters in an emergency.
Stormwater System Maintenance
Public Works manages both the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff, provides for adequate stormwater drainage, and helps protect the local stream habitats.
Stormwater staff coordinate with the City’s Natural Resources Program to assure that development is constructed and maintained in compliance with the Endangered Species Act and related regulations.
Stormwater staff are responsible for the operation and maintenance of 6,300 storm structures, including inlets, outlets, and manholes, as well as 55 miles of stormwater pipes. Enclosed pipe sections and catch basins are routinely cleaned and inspected using the City’s “Combination Truck” (a truck that has both high pressure cleaning and a vacuum system to remove clogged debris). Stormwater maintenance services are funded by a stormwater utility fee.
To report a clogged stormwater catch basin or pipe, contact Public Works at 503-682-4092 or fill out our Citizen Request Form.
Sanitary Sewer System Maintenance
The City contracts with CH2MHill for operation of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Public Works maintains the sewer collection system, which consists of 60 miles of pipe, over 1400 sanitary sewer manholes and eight pumping stations.
Maintenance staff clean the sanitary sewer pipes and manholes using a “Combination Truck” (a truck that has both high pressure cleaning and vacuum system to remove clogged debris).
The City's Industrial Pretreatment Program also helps to maintain the City's sewer system.
FACILITIES MAINTENANCE
The City of Wilsonville’s Facilities Maintenance section keeps the buildings at 16 city owned properties running and the nearly 30 acres of grounds around them in tip top shape.
Landscaping
The City of Wilsonville’s General Landscaping Standard is a landscape treatment for areas that are generally open. It is intended to be applied in situations where distance is used as the principal means of separating uses or developments and landscaping is required to enhance the intervening space. Landscaping may include a mixture of ground cover, evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and coniferous and deciduous trees. The City recognizes the ecological and economic value of landscaping and requires the use of landscaping and other screening or buffering to:
- Promote the re-establishment of vegetation for aesthetic, health, erosion control, flood control and wildlife habitat reasons
- Restore native plant communities and conserve irrigation water through establishment, or re-establishment, of native, drought-tolerant plants
- Promote the retention and use of existing vegetation
- Mitigate for loss of native vegetation
- Establish and enhance a pleasant visual character which recognizes aesthetics and safety issues
- Promote compatibility between land uses by reducing the visual, noise, and lighting impacts of specific development on users of the site and abutting sites or uses
- Unify development and enhance and define public and private spaces
- Aid in energy conservation by providing shade from the sun and shelter from the wind
- Screen from public view the storage of materials that would otherwise be considered unsightly
- Create proper sight distance clearance, and establish other safety factors by effective landscaping and screening to support crime prevention
- Provide landscaping materials that minimize the need for excessive use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, irrigation, pruning, and mowing to conserve and protect natural resources, wildlife habitats, and watersheds
The City of Wilsonville adheres to the rules, standards and regulations in City Code section 4.176 -Landscaping Screening & Buffering for landscaping around public buildings, street islands and Right of Way landscaping.
