Public Works consists of 9 Divisions that are responsible for numerous specialized functions within the City of Fruita. Those Divisions include; Engineering, Building Maintenance, Road Maintenance, Wastewater Collections, Wastewater Treatment, Irrigation Water, Traffic Safety , Mountain Water and Fleet Maintenance. The Department assures that construction standards are followed for all infrastructure, roads are properly planned and maintained, all buildings owned and operated by the City are safe and well maintained, wastewater is properly collected and transported to the treatment facility for treatment before being discharged to the waters of the State; that the reservoirs and  water owned by the City on Pinion Mesa are put to good use, and adequate irrigation water is delivered to City residents during the growing season.  If a problem occurs in any of these divisions, the Department maintains a “Citizen Service Request” which is available on the City Website which allows you to submit a question or request to the Public Works Department for consideration or action.  The Public Works Department is located at 900 E. Kiefer, Fruita, CO 81521 Phone: (970) 858-9558 Fax: (970) 858-4952

The Traffic Safety division of Public Works is responsible for signage along city streets, crosswalk maintenance, snow removal and street demarcation.

The Engineering Division of the Public Works Department is reponsible for traffic & transportation planning, stormwater quality, & utility inspection. Other responsibilities include planning, design, and construction oversight of major Capital Improvement Projects for the City, including Road and Bridge projects, sewer projects and storm drainage projects. The Engineering Division also provides engineering design criteria and development review services to builders and developers, maintains and creates maps and asbuilt information for subdivisions and city infrastructure, provides inspection oversight and approvals for developments, and helps with web-based information services.

The City of Fruita owns 6 buildings and maintains 5 of those. These are the Civic Center at 325 E. Aspen Avenue, the Police Services Building at 101 W. McCune Avenue, the Chamber of Commerce building at 432 E. Aspen Avenue, the Public Works building at 900 E. Kiefer Avenue and the rail car at 552 Jurassic Court. The Museum of Western Colorado occupies the City building at 550 Jurassic Court and provides their maintenance. The Building Maintenance division provides daily custodial services and general repairs for all buildings.

The Road Maintenance division of the Public Works Department conducts inspections and evaluations of existing roads and sidewalks in the city, determines maintenance needs and either handles these needs in-house or prepares bid documents to hire outside firms to perform construction or maintenance activities to resolve maintenance issues.

Currently our wastewater treatment facility consists of a lagoon system. It is located southwest of Fruita near the Little Salt Wash confluence with the Colorado River. Approximately 1 million gallons of wastewater are treated daily. Wastewater treatment in Colorado is governed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). They set standards and limits that the City must meet in order to discharge treated water into the Colorado River. Our discharge meets and in most cases exceeds the current standards that have been established for this segment of the Lower Colorado River Basin, which has been designated Threatened and Endangered. The State requires personnel to be certified and licensed to work on wastewater collection lines, wastewater lift stations or to operate a treatment facility. At this time there are 16 Public Works employees with State of Colorado Wastewater Collection licenses and 4 with State of Colorado Wastewater Treatment licenses.

In order to meet new criteria for our Discharge Permit in 2013, a new Wastewater Reclamation Facility is under construction west of Fruita. The new facility has been designed to treat 2.5 million gallons of wastewater per day, with the capability of expansion to 3.5 million gallons per day if needed in the future. Completion of construction is scheduled for November or December of 2011.

The City of Fruita provides irrigation water to some of the residents within the City limits. It is available from the first part of April to late October. The City has installed trash cleaners at some of the canal headgates to remove debris from the water before it reaches the customer. All canal headgates are checked and cleaned each morning.

The City maintains four reservoirs, two springs and a water delivery system on Pinion Mesa. The goal of mountain water is to utilize the City’s water rights effectively while maintaining accurate water records, leasing water to customers on Pinion Mesa and supplying water to the Glade Park Pipeline Water Users Association. In 2009, the City provided over sixty-two million gallons of water on Pinion Mesa/Glade Park.

There are over 165 vehicles and pieces of equipment owned by the City. These include police vehicles, heavy equipment, small equipment, lawn mowers, snow plows and medium and heavy duty trucks. These are spread across many departments within the structure of the City to serve in many capacities. The Fleet Maintenance division of Public Works, currently staffed by two mechanics, performs duties in two major fields. The first field is routine preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance and up-fitting and decommissioning for equipment and vehicles. This includes preparing and/or storing for summer use or winter use. The second field is administrative in nature. The Fleet Maintenance division drafts documents (i.e. quotes, bids) and is primarily involved in vehicle, equipment and tool acquisition. Records are kept for individual repairs on all equipment. Monthly reports are submitted for vehicle inspection reports, fuel usage and division activity. The City’s fuel supply and a small stock of oil, filters and parts are ordered by the Fleet Maintenance division.