Public Works and Utilities
The City of Centralia provides and maintains electric, water, sewage, and solid waste collection (under contract) utilities, public streets, storm water control, a municipal cemetery, planning and other general government services, 24-hour police protection and dispatching, and fire protection through a volunteer force. Currently, natural gas is supplied by Ameren/UE, a private investor-owned utility. The City purchases wholesale electric power from NextEra Power Marketing under a full-requirements contract through May of 2020 and redistributes that power to its citizens. The Hubbell/Chance Company purchases its electricity direct from Ameren Missouri, however an interconnection with the City system exists to provide for emergency exchange between the two systems, should such be necessary.
The City endeavors to constantly identify gaps and deficiencies in service provision and service levels. Most important to a General Comprehensive Plan is the frequent inspection and maintenance of municipal infrastructure to find aging problems while they can be corrected less expensively, Upgrades are periodically needed to improve service, meet expanding mandates, provide predictable excess capacity, eliminating potential blockages, and providing a basis for economic development and industrial recruitment.
Director of Public Works and Utilities
The Director of Public Works and Utilities supervises the Electric, Water and Street Departments as well as oversees road and construction improvement projects for the City. This person also checks all set backs for new construction and answers zoning questions. Fleet management is also under the supervision of the Director of Public Works and Utilities and includes retention, replacement, and maintaining records of maintenance. He is also in charge of the oversight of the maintenance of all City infrastructure.
Matthew Rusch was appointed as the Director of Public Works and Public Utilities on July 4, 2022. Before Matthew was promoted to this position he served the City of Centralia as the Water Foreman for 4 years.
