The City of St. Catharines is getting a new department to deal with things like road repair, tree removal, snow clearing, and parks maintenance.
CAO Shelley Chemnitz says currently the work is split between Transportation and Environmental Services and Parks, Recreation, and Culture Services. "Honestly we have two directors, [in] TES and PRCS, who work very hard and do an excellent job but they have a large mountain of work, and it would be better off for this corporation for them to focus more directly on certain areas."
Council was told employees in the two departments have complained of differences in management expectations and styles.
Forming the new department will create a new director's position, including the associated salary, but council was told the city will not need additional employees.
Some councillors did voice concerns with making these changes before the results of the provincial governance review come out, including Councillor Carlos Garcia. "I see it as adding another layer of management, and the rationale that we have different cultures between Parks and TES, I believe that can be solved."
Councillor Karrie Porter had a different view. "I don't want to hold off because the provincial government is looking at governance review, I mean there's a lot of things we could stop doing right now but I think that our residents, at the end of the day, expect good customer service and our employees expect the best from us."
The changes will come into effect next week.