By TR Robertson
The fifth meeting for the current Leadership Academy attendees included a tour of the City of Vista Public Works facility and presentations from Chris Arce, Public Works Director and Sewer Engineering Manager Ken Knatz. Meeting at the Public Works facility at 1165 E. Taylor Street, Chris Arce welcomed the group and spoke about what the tour would consist of as well as what exactly Public Works represents and entails in the City of Vista. Chris has been with the City of Vista for 12 years, appointed as the Director of Public Works in August of 2024. Entering the gates into the Public Works storage yard and work area, our first stop was at the Fleet Maintenance Garage where the group heard from Operations Manager Cirilo Mariscal, Operations Supervisor Aldo Hernandez and Fleet Maintenance Worker II Albes Pineda. Albes described the maintenance the 5 technicians do on the 280 Public works vehicles in the city. This service includes all aspects of maintenance from the yearly inspections, engine repairs, tires, and all aspects of the small and large vehicles that are part of the white and red (fire) fleets. Several vehicles, a large truck and a fire vehicle were on the Ari-hetra lifts, capable of lifting 16,000 lbs. each. He also showed the massive Rotary Lifts in another garage area capable of lifting the largest of the vehicles that need work. Chris Arce pointed out the gas pumps they use to refill all of the vehicles and pointed out they have a joint use agreement with the Vista Unified School District who also refill their school buses at the pumps. Chris said they also have electric charging stations as some of the newer vehicles are now electric. He said they will be adding more charging stations as they begin to add more electric vehicles to their fleet. Cirilo and Aldo also spoke about the variety of vehicles they maintain and the training all of their technicians go through to be able to repair the tremendous variety of vehicles in their fleet. The technicians all have special training for maintaining the various fire engines they service.
The Leadership Academy group next stopped by the Graffiti/Signs Division of the Public Work Department. Joe Lopez, who has been with the Public Works Department for 28 years, said they have a number of workers who are lifelong Vista residents and are very proud of the work they do for Public Works. Not only are they responsible for the wide variety of signs found throughout the city, but they are also responsible for cleaning and removal of any graffiti reported to the department. Arce said Joe and their crews try to get any graffiti reported completely removed or covered within 24 hours after they receive notice of the incidents. Joe showed all of the various products they use for graffiti removal or covering the graffiti as well as one of the large Public Works vehicles used specifically for graffiti removal. When asked about the problem areas for graffiti, it was pointed out the Skate Park does have some issues around the restroom. Chris and Joe both went over the fines and penalties individuals caught graffiting would go through and be charged with if caught. They pointed out that not all graffiti is gang related as there a several “crews” that graffiti areas, almost as a contest. Chris said the Sheriff’s Department will photograph all of the graffiti and have created files with similar graffiti to try and establish who is responsible.
Next up for the Public Works tour was the Wastewater Department. This department is responsible for the over 326 miles of sewer pipes and wastewater drainage areas throughout Vista. Our first presenter from this division was Gerardo Oliveras who demonstrated the intricate CCTV mobile unit that can send a variety of robots through the sewer lines to inspect them and determine what any issues may be. Gerardo has been the recipient of Wastewater awards for his knowledge and service to the City of Vista. He showed how these robots worked and the elaborate controls inside the van where all of the controls and TV screens are located for them to review. Gerardo said along with the miles of sewer lines there are 5,500 manholes that allow access to the sewer lines in Vista. He said all of the sewer pipes in Vista are on a 5–15-year inspection schedule. After his presentation we turned to the next Wastewater presentation, which was delivered by 13-year Public Works employee Joe Orozco. Joe is a member of one of the several crews for the Wastewater Division that repair any problems sewer or wastewater lines have. They do this through the use of a very large vehicle that holds water and hoses that are inserted into the sewer lines along with a variety of bits to clean out any blockage. Joe showed our group a table with numerous large bits that can cut through tree roots, grease and any other blockage in the pipes as well as the different sized wheels that can be attached to the lines. He demonstrated the cleanout process that can generate 1,800-2,500 psi of water when turned on. Three of these trucks and their teams are out each day taking care of problems or cleaning the lines on the established maintenance schedule.
After these demonstrations our group moved into the Public Works offices to hear from Vista Public Works Director Chris Arce. Using a power point presentation Chris began with the Mission Statement for Public Works;
“to provide a high quality of life for citizens by ensuring the community runs smoothly providing seamless service and achieving the highest professional standards”
He said they have a Public Works staff of 60 that cover all of their departments. First is the Administrative Staff followed by the Streets Division that cover the 185 miles of streets in the city. This also includes any issues they have with the 12,000 street signs in the city. Streets Division also includes dealing with graffiti, potholes, stripping, street sweeping, storm water channels, and much more. The Fleet Division of Public Works includes 5 technicians that maintain 157 fleet vehicles and 48 fire vehicles. The next division is the Wastewater Division, discussed above, followed by the Parks division. Public Works maintains 200 park acres comprising 15 parks. In the parks and around the city there are 16,778 trees and 17 sports fields. Their department uses a tree watering bag program to water trees lacking water meters. The bags are filled every 2 weeks. The next division in Public Works is Facilities/Utilities maintaining and repairing the 88 structures on 33 sites in the city, over 500,000 square feet. This also includes the 3,600 streetlights in the city and hundreds of miles of underground wiring.
The final presenter for the evening was Ken Knatz, Sewer Engineering Manager. Ken said of the 60 Public Works employees, 17 are in the Wastewater Division. He said it is important to understand that sewer water is separate from stormwater. He said there are 2 districts for the division to cover; Vista (established in 1920) and Buena (established in 1960) and the second division Encina. These two districts comprise 315 miles of pipe to maintain that flow into 4 pumping stations. In the Vista and Buena district 8.5 million gallons a day go through their pipes. There are two types of pipes they maintain, clay and PVC. Clay pipes, if maintained properly, can last up to 100 years and PVC pies have a 75 year shelf life if maintained properly. Ken said this division has to make sure they are regulatory compliant at all times and that they are environmental stewards on all projects. For any new housing or development projects planning and approval are important factors to consider. He said they divide the water they deal with into non-sanitary and stormwater. For stormwater run-off one goal is water quality improvement. Maintaining stormwater draining is a goal to ensure the variety of pollutants is lessened. These include fertilizers, sediment, trash and pollution from homeless settlements. The goal is to protect, as much as possible, the San Luis Rey and Carlsbad watersheds. Some of the controls with city streets include the treatment control from BMP/’s (Best Management Practices) filtering systems. Ken said they also follow state mandated trash compliance standards. For any questions you may have email waterquality@cityofvista.com. Both Chris and Ken said putting the Access Vista app on your phones would be useful in reporting any type of issues their departments might deal with.
Next up for the Leadership Academy is a look at Recreation and Community Services, Code Enforcement, Housing and the Homeless Strategic Plan. If you are interested in attending the Leadership Academy in the Fall, contact Kathy Valdez at City Hall to find out more about the program.
