Cape Girardeau Public Works Department grapples with staff shortage

A continued staffing shortfall has the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department struggling to keep up with normal operations.

The issue — which was briefly mentioned in Mayor Stacy Kinder's "state of the city" address last week — is forcing Public Works employees to fill in on different details, work overtime hours and run undermanned crews for projects, among other things.

Director Stan Polivick said the department has 16 of its 73 positions vacant, nearly 22%. The problem, as with many staffing problems, dates back to the start of the pandemic. Public Works is in dire need of new employees, he said.

"We've got to get these open positions filled to keep providing the services that we're providing, because if we keep doing it with the workforce we've got, you know, the overtime is going to wear them out," Polivick said. "Just, you know, the grind of that to-do list is getting longer and longer. That wears people down."

The director said it hasn't gotten to the point where things are being completely removed from the to-do list, it's just taking crews longer to get there. Street repairs are now crewed often by three workers instead of the usual four. The shortage impacted work following the recent severe storms in the area. Many had to be pulled off normal details to help remove debris from roadways.

Polivick said the employee dearth is most felt in the Solid Waste division. Because it's something that needs attention everyday, a priority is put on running trash routes and collecting recycling, pulling employees away from their normal areas to help.

Ideally, the city would normally have 11 crew members on the seven solid waste routes — not including those at the Recycling Center or handling transfer — using six of the automated trash trucks, which allow one person to handle a route themselves. Now, the city has seven crew members for the routes, many of whom aren't trained on the automated truck, necessitating larger crews for each route.

"So, the number of man hours dedicated to that trash route is significantly higher," Polivick said.

Oftentimes, when a route is completed the crew will start helping out finishing another.

The problem has created a perfect storm, the director said. The division doesn't have enough employees to allow one to train instead of running a route, making it impossible for the division to use more automated trucks on routes and reduce man hours. Also in special circumstances, such as the one that occurred two weeks ago, vacation time and illness can put solid waste significantly behind in its pickup schedule.

Polivick said most open positions — with the exception of some vacancies in the Water Treatment division — aren't specialized and simply require a CDL Class B license to operate the equipment.

He said he believes the recent stipend implemented by the city for applicants with a CDL and the recent pay increase have helped, but that they are still competing with private businesses for many employees.

The private sector often pays a higher hourly wage than the city, but the city often has better benefits, Polivick said.

"But quite often a new employee, a young employee, is looking strictly at 'how much do I make an hour' and so, it's a little harder for us to compete with the private sector," he said.

The director said the city has taken the necessary steps to remedy the issues, but a lot of different entities are competing for the same employees right now.