Public works director summarizes 2025 operations, infrastructure needs and 2026 projects

Deputy City Manager and Public Works Director Drew Willeford told the Mexico City Council on March 23 that public-works staff accomplished a wide slate of maintenance and capital work in 2025 and will press several projects into 2026.

Willeford opened his hourlong update by describing the department’s structure—airport operations (one employee), community development (three), engineering (two, with a new hire starting in May), streets (nine, two vacancies) and wastewater (seven)—and stressed the range of experience and recent turnover across teams. “I will try to make this as quick and painless as possible,” Willeford said as he began the presentation.

On wastewater, Willeford reported the system maintains roughly 2,000 structures, nearly 85 miles of mains and 12 lift stations. Average daily flow in 2025 was about 2.7 million gallons. He credited staff for both routine maintenance and emergency response and highlighted an in-house installation of a Penn Valley pump that staff handled rather than contracting out; Willeford said that effort saved “close to probably $7,000 of city funds” and gave the crew the know‑how to install two more pumps internally.

Willeford described a multi-year lift-station cellular alarm and remote-monitoring deployment that logs pump run times and wet-well levels; the system is entering its final phase and has already revealed problems—pumps not cycling and over-amperage—that staff addressed. He also outlined sanitary and storm-sewer inspection efforts tied to MoDOT surface projects: MoDOT’s resurfacing is advertised with a bid opening on April 17, and construction was anticipated to begin after June 22 with an estimated July 1 completion target for the initial work.

Street Division statistics included 595 tons of hot-mix placed in 2025, with nearly 300 tons on South Missouri Street using a new paver, 255 cubic yards of concrete poured, and extensive culvert, ditching and sign maintenance. Willeford said the city expects a new street sweeper within a month and mentioned an April 10 equipment-rodeo to support operators.

On community development, staff issued 482 building permits and conducted 923 inspections in 2025; code enforcement issued about 1,900 nuisance letters and 89 summonses, and the department has streamlined summons processing. Major 2025 capital completions included the Pollock Road bridge replacement and culvert work that removed prior weight restrictions, and ARPA-funded culvert replacements at Teal Lake Access Road that restored access to the dam and spillway.

Looking ahead to 2026, Willeford previewed the Curtis Love Abbott paving work, a Fairground culvert box replacement (steel ordered; precasting expected in early April), closure and contractor access at Fairground Lake for several weeks, Maldrow sidewalk phases moving through state historic-preservation review and a phase‑4 sidewalk engineering services contract scheduled later in the evening packet. He also flagged airport needs: a fuel-system replacement estimated at $750,000 (plus roughly 30% for engineering), runway crack and joint sealing, and drainage improvements.

Willeford closed by noting the city’s MS4 stormwater obligations and the DNR 604(b) grant awarded to map storm infrastructure; contractor Horner & Shiffrin and VISU Sewer are conducting CCTV and mapping work, and stormwater-mapping results showed failures needing pipe replacement in priority downtown areas.

Council members asked follow-up questions about Fairground Lake drainage, pump repairs and how the project would be completed; Willeford said the site will likely be closed to public access for several weeks and staff are exploring reallocation of about $100,000 in internal resources to reduce grant overages on lake improvements. The council then moved on to routine business.