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Doña Ana County public works director outlines roads, utilities, internships and private-road rules
Summary
Acting Public Works Director Daniel Sbrano described Doña Ana County’s roads, engineering and utilities operations on the county podcast, explained why the county generally cannot maintain private roads, outlined criteria for accepting a road, and highlighted internship, job-fair and chip-seal plans.
Acting Public Works Director Daniel Sbrano told the Doña Ana County podcast that the county’s Public Works Department manages roads, engineering and wastewater utilities and employs about 60 people countywide.
Sbrano said the department maintains roughly 600 miles of paved roads and also services unpaved roads, with one operator assigned to level and clean dirt roads about once a month. “Overall we probably have about 60 employees that run in the public works department with the majority of them being in the roads department,” Sbrano said.
The department oversees engineering tasks — road and drainage design, subdivision plan review, construction inspection — and utilities limited to wastewater treatment. Sbrano listed four county-managed wastewater treatment plants in more rural parts of the county and identified a roughly 1‑million‑gallon‑per‑day plant in the Bino area.
Sbrano described a workforce partnership with a local community college that provides hands-on intern training for water and wastewater operators and said those internships are paid: “It’s a 50/50 split with the county,” he said, adding the program helps the county recruit qualified operators when interns complete training.
On private roads, Sbrano said state law restricts government spending on private property and the county therefore “cannot take them over” in ordinary circumstances. He outlined the criteria the county looks for when a takeover is possible: recent paving, a high pavement condition index (PCI) — he cited an 80–85 range on the 1–100 PCI scale — dedication of an adequate right-of-way (about 50 feet), and transfer of the road’s deed to the county.
Sbrano also described the county’s multi‑year roads initiatives, which repaved many miles and in at least one initiative included taking over some private roads that provide emergency access. Transcript audio contains inconsistent figures for total spending and miles repaved; Sbrano said the county will submit its maintained‑mileage list to the state this year and expects to add roughly 30–40 miles.
Residents were directed to the Public Works website and the roads office for specifics about whether a road is maintained by the county; Sbrano provided a contact number for the roads office. He also announced a county career fair on March 20 with a Public Works booth and an “equipment rodeo” for operator demonstrations, and said the chip‑seal maintenance season will be posted on county social channels when schedules are set.
For more information and updates on schedules and projects, Sbrano said residents should consult the Doña Ana County website or contact the roads office.
