As our community comes together to celebrate April Sustainability Month with our monthlong Keep Fishers Beautiful celebration, there is a dedicated team that works year-round to keep our community beautiful and vibrant.
On any given day, Fishers Department of Public Works (DPW) can be found planting trees, mulching a school courtyard, fixing playground equipment at one of our Fishers parks, preparing a baseball field for an evening game, or any other number of items to keep our public areas safe and clean. When people think of DPW, you probably immediately think of people filling potholes or plowing snow. However, you probably don’t think of a team of people going through public park paths to make sure that they free of trash and debris or mowing the grass at one of our schools.
Juan Puente has worked at the City of Fishers Department of Public Works (DPW) for the past five years. Puente is the Parks Superintendent at Fishers DPW and is largely responsible for the upkeep of Fishers’ parks, school grounds, and public areas. His team of full-time and seasonal employees serves multiple parks and public spaces throughout the year to prepare for community events, keep equipment safe, and provide the daily upkeep necessary to keep our Fishers parks at the high standard we all recognize and expect.
Juan and his team work across the entire city. Juan remarked that when most people see a DPW crew working at a park, they probably only think they work at that one location but that the work they do is “so much more than one small area”. Each crew is responsible for multiple parks, school grounds, other public areas, and the upkeep that goes into them throughout the year.
Puente is proud of our city and the work his team does to serve Fishers’ residents. He says that an important part of his job is getting to “carry on the pride that Fishers has with our properties.” Puente says he enjoys working at DPW because he is “maintaining the areas that I bring my kids to”. As a father, he gets to see the joy that people can have when visiting a Fishers’ park or property.
Though DPW works hard year-round, the spring and summer seasons are a busy time for Puente and his parks crew. As sports begin to start up again and the weather turns warmer, park maintenance is working overtime to make sure everything is prepped for the season. So next time you’re at one of Fishers’ parks, take a moment to appreciate the hard work that park maintenance and the entire DPW team have done to keep our community beautiful and clean.
*Photos pre-COVID.
Cassidy Robertson is a former Community Engagement and PR Intern for the City of Fishers. She enjoys shopping and eating local in downtown Fishers, and in her spare time, she loves working on puzzles and reading a good book. She also enjoys playing with her three dogs and loves watching Fishers continue to develop both as an economic and social hub.