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Public Works reports improved enforcement, staffing gains and fleet repair costs above plan
Summary
Interim Commissioner Kentore Garman told the City Utilities Committee that curbside and special-operations performance largely met targets despite winter storms; notice-of-violation issuance and canvassing increased, fleet repairs rose due to aging equipment, and DPW reported higher spending in fleet services tied to commercial repairs.
Kentore Garman, interim commissioner of the Department of Public Works, presented the department’s quarterly report to the City Utilities Committee on Jan. 28, saying the department met several operational targets despite winter-storm disruptions and system changes tied to ATL Connect deployment.
Garman said curbside case volume fell 21% from October to December 2024 while DPW closed about 90% of cases; service-level agreement (SLA) compliance for curbside cases stood at 76%. Special operations (street sweepers, right-of-way and illegal-dumping response) closed 90% of nearly 2,000 cases from October to December, with 78% closed within SLA. Illegal dumping remained the most common case type, though total requests decreased across the quarter.
Garman reported bulk-collection requests of about 9,600 requests totaling about 11,104 tons, averaging 104 collections per day. Code-enforcement (referred to in the presentation as "sweep" or SUIT metrics) created 3,098 cases with 80% closed and 51% resolved within SLA; 2,519 sweep cases resulted in 1,163 notices of violation (46% conversion rate) and the share of notices issued increased 61% during the reported period.
Keep Atlanta Beautiful reported 45 community cleanups with 541 volunteers, 1,578 service hours and more than 10 tons of trash removed. DPW said special hires in horticulture and landscape roles strengthened capacity for beautification efforts.
Garman said fleet maintenance logged 24,951 wrench-time hours and completed 8,150 repairs; fleet received 84 fewer vehicles than the prior quarter. Fleet spending reached 61% of a $35 million allocation, driven in part by commercial repairs for aged equipment that exceeded the repairs allocation by 152% (about $1.6 million over a $3 million maintenance allocation). Garman said hiring mechanics (mechanics 1, 2 and 3) should reduce outside vendor spending over time and reported vacancy-filling success in fleet positions (about 90–97% filled in fleet).
Garman noted QA/QC evaluation targets were raised from 70% to 80% at the committee’s request; internal crews achieved a 90% average evaluation score in the quarter. DPW also reported high tablet and route-log utilization for solid-waste and special-operations teams (98–99% route logging and 99% tablet utilization in some divisions).
Council members raised continued concerns about persistent illegal dumping in certain areas and asked the commissioner to consider targeted responses such as cameras and escalated cleanups. Garman said an internal escalations team is available to coordinate council-driven cleanups and that a detailed vacancy/extra-help report could be provided to the committee.
Garman closed by thanking the committee and asking for continued support for staffing and operational investments to reduce reliance on contractors and improve long-term service delivery.
