2.52.330 - General procedures.
2.52.340 - Emergency procedures.
2.52.350 - Detailed procedures.
(a)
Any citizen making a complaint, reporting a road discrepancy, or raising a question regarding conditions or procedures shall be treated courteously and given the best explanation available. If the employee does not know the facts or reasons, he should freely admit his inability to explain and refer to higher authority. Obviously, there are some conditions which the county road department is powerless to correct, and others that must be acted upon over an extended period of time. These facts should be explained to the citizen.
(b)
Staff shall project a friendly, courteous, helpful image to the public. If a citizen asks for assistance that is not the responsibility of the department, staff will help by giving that person the name of the individual in the appropriate office who can assist. That may entail giving the citizen directions on where the office is located and it may also require that staff call said office, find out which employee can assist and give that information to the citizen.
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990).
(a)
"County engineer" means director of public works and/or county engineer.
(b)
"Department" means the department of public works, engineering division, maintenance division, administrative division or equipment rental and revolving division.
(c)
Emergencies. It is impossible to define an emergency in specific terms to include all situations. Generally, an "emergency" is an existing or definite potential condition which endangers life and/or public or private property. The "degree of risk" in comparison with the seriousness of the possible loss which might be sustained is the prime factor in evaluating a condition to be rated as an "emergency." Examples of emergency situations are:
(1)
Common emergencies:
(A)
Water over roadway,
(B)
Obstructions (tree across road, etc.),
(C)
A down or missing stop sign,
(D)
Any mass of material or object blocking a portion of the traveled way;
(2)
Severe emergencies:
(A)
Any condition endangering human life or threatening personal injury,
(B)
Injury of employee requiring immediate hospitalization;
(3)
Disaster emergencies:
(A)
The roadway has been completely closed because of a mass of material or object completely blocking traveled way. Closure of roadway necessitates proper corrective action,
(B)
A loss of a bridge;
(C)
Fatality of an employee.
(d)
"Employee" means staff; individual working for the department of public works, regardless of rank or authority.
(e)
"Engineer" means assistant to the county engineer and/or director of public works; maintenance engineer; construction engineer; or administrative engineer.
(f)
"Supervisor" means a person who is next in line in authority to the employee, e.g., road supervisor, project inspector, foreman, or construction engineer.
(g)
Request for Services. The use of the word "request" means the same as request for services. Examples of requests are:
(1)
Notification of emergencies;
(2)
Request for additional maintenance;
(3)
Request for road improvement by major/minor construction;
(4)
A complaint as to employee's work performance (usually reported by employee's supervisor, and evaluated, with recommendations for the county engineer);
(5)
General citizen concerns requiring departmental action.
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990).
Department of public works employees shall:
(1)
Investigate requests in a responsible manner by determining what action is required to satisfy the request, and convey that information (when at all possible) to the citizen who makes the request.
(2)
Ignore no request, and likewise, make sure the citizen understands that their concerns and input have been appreciated.
(3)
Consider the urgency of the condition(s) reported by the citizen before implementing proper corrective action within department policy.
(4)
Retain a written record of all requests to provide reference for future road construction or maintenance decisions.
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990: Res. (part) dated December 14, 1970: § 3(1) of Res. dated March 24, 1969).
2.52.330 - General procedures.
(a)
Handling Requests During Working Hours. It is the intent that all requests be received, logged, documented and filed at the engineer's office. It shall be the responsibility of the receiving division or department to provide the engineer's office with sufficient information so that documentation can be completed.
(1)
Any request received by a department employee shall be promptly reported to his/her supervisor, or to the engineer's office before the end of the work shift.
(2)
Depending on the nature and severity of the request, it is the goal of the department to investigate the request on the same day that it is received but no later than one workweek. Emergency requests shall be forwarded immediately to the appropriate engineer or supervisor.
(3)
After the investigation has been completed, the citizen making the request shall be contacted and informed of the action taken or the appropriate action to be taken.
(4)
The request for services shall be categorized as:
(A)
Emergency: Requests requiring immediate action (refer to Section 2.52.340—Emergency Procedures);
(B)
Other.
(b)
Handling Requests During Nonworking Hours. Only requests that are categorized as "emergency" require immediate action during nonworking hours.
(1)
During nonworking hours, it will be the responsibility of the employee receiving the request to either classify the request as "emergency" or "other" and/or refer to higher authority.
(2)
Emergencies only require immediate action. The removal or resolution of the immediate emergency is the primary goal of nonworking-hours response. This may include closing the roadway to through traffic to protect life and property.
(3)
Disaster emergencies shall be reported promptly to:
(A)
The county engineer, who shall contact:
(i)
The chairman of the board, and
(ii)
The commissioner in the district.
(4)
Refer to Section 2.52.340 for additional emergency procedures.
(c)
Requests which would require action not covered by or at variance with departmental legal authority and established policy shall be referred to the board before action is initiated except for true emergencies involving real danger to life or to public or private property.
(d)
Names and telephone numbers of key personnel in the department will be furnished to public agencies including but not limited to county sheriff dispatch, county PUD No's 1 and 3, telephone companies and T.V. cable companies as well as State Departments of Highways, Fisheries and Wildlife. (For emergency procedures, see Section 2.52.340 of this chapter).
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990: Res. (part) dated December 14, 1970: § 3(2) of Res. dated March 24, 1969).
2.52.340 - Emergency procedures.
Any emergency shall be treated promptly. Immediate action shall be taken as follows:
(1)
Notify maintenance or construction engineer depending on the type of emergency. They, in turn will notify the appropriate supervisor to initiate corrective action. Common emergencies—the county engineer shall be notified the following workday; severe emergencies—the county engineer shall be called immediately and he shall notify the appropriate commissioners the following workday; and, disaster emergencies—the engineer will be notified immediately and he will promptly notify the commissioner.
(2)
Do all possible to remove the condition(s) from the emergency status in order to safeguard life and property; e.g., road closure, provide traffic control ("flag" traffic), set barricades, enlist aid of others to relay messages, or other appropriate action as necessary.
(3)
Notify emergency services if extensive rerouting of traffic or isolation of the site is necessary. Emergency services shall notify those emergency agencies necessary.
(4)
Refer to general procedures in Section 2.52.330
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990: Res. (part) dated December 14, 1970: § 3(3) of Res. dated March 24, 1969).
2.52.350 - Detailed procedures.
Department of Public works-engineer's office shall:
(1)
Receive all requests and categorize same as:
(A)
Emergency; or
(B)
Others.
(2)
Implement these details for receiving and administering a request for services, as follows:
(A)
Name, address, and telephone number of the person making the request;
(B)
Record whether the request has been received by letter, telephone or in person;
(C)
Record the name of the employee(s) receiving request;
(D)
Record the road number, road name, and approximate mileposts when applicable;
(E)
Gather sufficient information to answer the following:
(i)
What is the request?
(ii)
Where is the problem located?
(iii)
When did the problem originate?
(iv)
What was the cause of the problem?
(v)
What is the citizen's suggestion to solve the problem?
(F)
The request shall be routed to the construction engineer, maintenance engineer, supervisor, or to an employee deemed best to handle the request.
(i)
The investigating employee shall inspect the problem; determine the proper course of action and recommend a schedule of correction. After approval by the appropriate supervisor, the investigating employee shall summarize and explain the proposed action to the citizen.
(ii)
Every effort should be taken to contact the citizen in the same manner in which the citizen contacted the department of public works (no later than one workweek after receipt of the request); e.g., letter, telephone or in person.
(iii)
When the request has been satisfied, a record of same shall be filed in the engineer's office road file.
(iv)
If the citizen files the request in a threatening manner, a copy of the request shall be forwarded to the prosecuting attorney's office.
(G)
Log of all requests shall be maintained.
(H)
Prepare a form which will satisfy the above needs.
(Res. 26-90 (part), 1990: Res. (part) dated December 14, 1970: § 3(4) of Res. dated March 24, 1969).
Copies of the board's policy, as adopted and set forth herein, shall be prominently posted in the office of the county road engineer and all road department shops in such manner that it will be readily available to all road department employees and to the general public.
(Res. (part) dated December 14, 1970: § III (part) of Res. dated March 24, 1969).