Wheaton, Illinois — The City of Wheaton has released the Department of Public Works’ 2024 Annual Report. The report seeks to inform residents of the work and accomplishments of the department from the previous year.
The Department had 56 full-time union employees, nine full-time non-union employees, one part-time employee and 19 seasonal employees in 2024. The Department celebrated the anniversaries of four employees who have worked for five years, four for ten years, one for 25 years and three employees for 30 years of service. Additionally, the Department welcomed eight new hires and celebrated the careers of six retirements.
Highlighted in the report, the City of Wheaton was named Tree City USA for the 38th consecutive year and also named Monarch City USA. Through the efforts of the Forestry Division, 194 trees were planted in 2024 through the City’s Shared Cost Tree Planting Program.
The Street Division also replaced 164 HSP streetlights with LED fixtures. They replaced 510 faded, deteriorated or damaged street and traffic signs, as well as 900 squares of sidewalk.Snow and ice operations responded to 12 snow events during the year that totaled 14 inches of snow. The division used 1,310 tons of road salt.
Additionally, the Water Division, along with the Engineering Department, replaced 3,200 feet of water pipe that was deteriorating with ductile iron pipe. Additionally, 95 public lead service lines were replaced with copper pipe. Crews also inspected over 900 valves, replaced five valves and painted 268 fire hydrants.
The Sewer Division also kept busy last year by exceeding operational goals for cleaning and inspection. Sewer crews installed 1,311 linear feet of new storm sewer pipe.
Finally, the Fleet Division Superintendent added four new hybrid vehicles across all departments.
The end of the report included two pages of goals the Department of Public Works has for 2025 across all divisions.
