Summer. Spring. Winter. Fall.
No matter the season, someone from the city of Aubrey’s road crew, decked out in bright yellow safety vests, is always on call.
John Himmelright has worked for the city of Aubrey’s road crew for 2 and ½ years and was recently promoted to street foreman.
After retiring from the post office, joining the city crew was Himmelright’s way of staying active.
“ All my buddies weren’t retired yet and stuff, so I like to keep busy,” he said. “This job keeps you busy.”
Every morning, he attends a meeting to discuss the day’s tasks, covering Aubrey and its subdivi- sions.
Street crew takes pride in upkeep of city infrastructure
“We start from 7:30 to 5:30; we have nine hours Monday through Thursday,” Himmelright said. “Then we work half a day on Fridays.”
The tasks vary from day to day, which Himmelright enjoys, ranging from repairing small street patches to fixing issues caused by water damage.
Patches like the one Himmelright refers to take about four hours to complete.
That along with replacing and fixing street signs are just a few of the task Himmelright and the rest of the road work crew handle.
“A lot of times with us, somebody knocks over a sign, so we gotta go repair it,” Himmelright said. “Or, you know, someone from the public calls us if we don’t see it. So, if there are trees on the road, we take care of them. If wind damages trees during a storm, we handle that, too.”
With only three members—Himmelright, Davey Krajnak and Kyle Martin—the road work crew is small but mighty, working hard to complete each day’s tasks.
Himmelright shared the process to repair potholes and other road projects.
“So, what we do is we get hot mix with the dump truck,” Himmelright said. “We have to go get it at the plant, dump it, spread it out, layer it, then smooth and pack it.”
They also cut trees and bushes near the roads, maintain the landscape, pick up trash, demolish houses when needed, maintain streetlights at night, assist with city events like the Peanut Festival, ice and salt the roads during winter, clean curbs and gutters, and clear out ditches.
Even when it’s a cool day outside, the work makes the crew sweat.
When work tasks are few, the crew of three patrols the area, fixing issues and preventing bigger problems.
“It’s one of those things where you don’t really realize what those guys do unless you ride with them and see what they’re doing,” Public Works Manager Kurt Karnowski said. “Until I came into the public sector, I didn’t really have a good idea of what they did; they do a lot.”
For Himmelright and the rest of the crew, it’s an honest day’s work.
“I like the job because it’s never the same every day,” Himmelright said. “We get a variety.”
They’re never off duty, because every third week, a different person is on call, whether on weekends or in the middle of the night.
Whether it’s that a manhole backs up and spills over, forcing the road crew to come and fix the problem, or needing to retrieve phones and wallets left in drains, the crew is the first called when an issue arises.
Unless someone calls with a problem, they’re on standby.
Any road issue prompts their response.
When on call, they do rounds on weekends, checking water levels and lift stations, and testing water quality.
“Whenever there’s a storm that comes in and trees go down or something happens, they’re called in to help with cleanup and to ensure streets are safe for driving,” Karnowski said.
Road conditions are a team effort. Along with the city’s emergency management coordinator, who watches for bad weather like ice and tornadoes, the crew prepares by salting roads, sidewalks and intersections— sometimes even heading out in extreme weather.
In those instances, the crew often stays late on nights and weekends to make sure everything is safe and passable.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to work with; they really make my job easier,” Karnowski said. “We just couldn’t do it without the effort of these guys. They’re a fantastic group, very tight-knit, and we work really well together.”
This camaraderie extends to the other departments in public works.
“We’re like buddies, you know?” Himmelright said. “Yeah, we help each other out.”
The crews work together—water department fixes damages to pipes and road crew repairs patches in the road. They are the eyes behind the city, ready to respond to reports and emergencies.
“The city of Aubrey is a team, and we all work together,” Karnowski said. “We work with a great group of people— from upper management, City Council, the mayor and everyone in between. Everyone’s just hardworking. They make big contributions that help the city run smoothly.”
They work hard behind the scenes to keep the city maintained.
“They have a great work ethic and a real passion for what they do,” Karnowski adds.
To Himmelright, no matter the task or late hours, road work can be summarized quite simply: “An ongoing process. Always trying to improve.”
