Miscellaneous Services

Fleet Maintenance

Currently we have 490 pieces of equipment under the domain of the Department of General Services, 374 of which are vehicles. This includes sanitation packers, street sweepers, forklifts, pavers, backhoes, dump trucks, loaders, snow blasters, a boom truck, and a compost turner. Fleet Maintenance is responsible for keeping these vehicles on the road and operational.

General maintenance and daily upkeep of these vehicles is only one of the responsibilities of our fleet maintenance division. When a piece of equipment needs major repair, this branch is responsible for transporting it to a vender, or our landfill, which hosts a centralized repair shop with a heavy duty lift. During the winter season this crew is handed further responsibilities.

One such example of a winter responsibility is keeping the facility grounds clear and accessible so that our plow and sanitation workers can safely arrive and get to work clearing and cleaning our city. Additionally, central maintenance mounts plows on all the vehicles, inspects each piece of equipment before every storm, and assists in loading salt into every one of our salters 24 hours a day during the most abrasive storms.

Small Engines

We here at the Department of General Services have a diverse portfolio of crews and subdivisions. Within each of these branches is an innumerous amount of equipment that must be maintained daily. Our small engine shop serves a similar function to Fleet Maintenance, with a concentration in smaller equipment. 

This team performs daily road calls, often traveling to parks all over the city to keep our public-facing crews functioning. One of the most important aspects of their job is performed during the winter. Beginning around mid-September these three will begin inspection of the 20 salters that get loaded onto the back of dump trucks. Before January, every salter will be loaded via use of a front-end loader and ready to combat the snow.

Central Maintenance

Our Central Maintenance Department is responsible for the upkeep and renovations to all buildings under the domain of the City of Albany. This includes, City Hall, Washington Park Boathouse, Lincoln Park and Bleecker Stadium amongst a plethora of others.

Included in their areas of expertise are:

• Carpenters
• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Painters

An additional responsibility of this division is the installation and maintenance of the water spouts found in Washington Pond and Buckingham Lake.

Engineering

The Engineering Division is a full-service engineering department that serves the general public as well as other City Departments including:

• Buildings and Codes
• Development and Planning
• Recreation
• Traffic Safety
• Water and Water Supply

This Division provides services for capital improvement projects to city infrastructure such as:

• Construction Administration
• Construction Inspection
• Design
• Planning
• Project Management

This includes 60 City-owned buildings, streets, sidewalks, bridges, and parks. In addition, the Engineering Division is responsible for the issuance of various permits and approvals for construction related activities in the City of Albany.

Engineering is in charge of the capital improvement projects. These projects are typically planned and budgeted years in advance and are typically larger than the in-house Department of General Services maintenance work and therefore contracted out to outside contractors.