About Us

Some people may wonder what the Department of Public Works (DPW) does for their community. If you are a Palmer resident who wants to know more about the Public Works Department, then you have come to the right place.

What is it that makes up the Department of Public Works?

35+ pieces of highway, parks, wastewater, and construction equipment, including a backhoe, front end loader, a road sweeper, dump trucks, pickup trucks, vactor truck (sewer vacuum), excavator, asphalt roller, field conditioners, sidewalk plows and tractors, lawn tractors and mowers, and all the related hand tools that make getting our work done possible.

86 Miles of road, with the related guardrails, road striping, streetlights, curbing, signs, trees, pavement, storm water management system, Sewer system, driveway aprons, sidewalks and last but certainly not least, our employees and our residents.

A Grade 6, Town operated Wastewater Treatment Plant, 10 pump stations, and 60 miles of sewer mains.

Have you ever wondered who mows, paints lines, and marks all of Palmer’s baseball, football, and soccer fields or when the Town tree in front of your property is starting to rot? Who do you call when you can no longer see the stop sign, drive around the pothole, or locate the cross walk? What number do you dial when the catch basins are blocked, and the street is flooding? How about when the retention ponds in our town become overgrown and no longer function as designed? All of these issues, and countless others, are dealt with daily by the Palmer Department of Public Works. Our duties and responsibilities do not end there. Our cemetery department is very busy maintaining and operating the town owned cemeteries and coordinating burials with the public and with funeral homes. The Highway and Parks Division of the DPW is also responsible for the ongoing grounds maintenance and cleaning of Town Hall, the Senior Center, and the Highway Division Facility. We also mow and trim the athletic fields at Palmer High School, Converse School, Legion Field, Burleigh Park and Lavoilette Field, as well as maintaining all town owned parks and properties in all 4 villages of Palmer- Three Rivers, Bondsville, Depot Village and Thorndike.

While all this is going on, our employees are also mowing the roadside of 86+ miles of road, replacing, and repairing signs, rebuilding, and repairing utility structures and catch basins, inspecting the construction activities done by contractors working both for the Town, and working within the Town’s right of way on town construction projects. Sound like a full day? We still need to clean up leaves in the fall, maintain the Town’s composting facility during the spring, summer, and fall and PLOW SNOW IN THE WINTER!!

The Public Works Department is an emergency response department, and we work with our Public Safety team to respond and mitigate public safety concerns within our scope of work.

This summary is a not meant to be full inclusive list of all that we do, please reach out to our office if you have any questions, concerns or if you require any additional information. (413)283-2615