Milford staffing shortage impacts resident services

Delaware State News
Posted 7/30/21

MILFORD — Due to staff vacancies and the hiring challenges many municipalities and businesses are presently facing, residents here may be experiencing delays in service, a news release from the …

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Milford staffing shortage impacts resident services

Posted

MILFORD — Due to staff vacancies and the hiring challenges many municipalities and businesses are presently facing, residents here may be experiencing delays in service, a news release from the city states.

The city of Milford is hiring in several departments: electric, public works, parks and recreation, customer service, information technology, police and solid waste.

To apply or pass along the city’s job opening information to interested parties, go online.

Existing employees are working “tremendous overtime hours to keep up,” the release states.

“City employees take pride in providing the best possible service they can, but due to the current circumstance, we have been unable to provide the service citizens have come to expect,” the release continues.

Trash, recycling and yard waste collection days will not change due to low staffing, but the time of day may vary from week to week. Electric outages also may take longer to restore.

“We are working diligently and taking aggressive measures to fill staff vacancies in the city,” City Manager Mark Whitfield said. “City employees take pride in delivering excellent customer service; however, limited staff has made it challenging to maintain that level of service. We are asking for citizens’ patience during this time.”

Residents can make adjustments to their normal routines to aid the city as it navigates through the staffing shortage.

The release advises residents to allow extra time prior to calling customer service if solid waste is not collected at its normal time.

Residents also may sign up to pay utility bills online at cityofmilford.com/163/Online-Utility-Payment-Instructions. This will reduce the number of monthly customers at the customer service window or drive-thru, the release states.

Area residents can sign up to receive news and calendar alerts at cityofmilford.com/list.aspx. Customers will receive an email or text notification about solid waste delays, power outages and other news and events.

Another avenue for information is Swift911, available for sign-up online.

This system makes phone calls to specific people or areas in the event of an emergency or to share important information. All calls from this system will have the caller ID of “City of Milford” or “City of Milford Police Department.”

Residents may also sign up for utility usage alerts online. There, they can view electric and water usage, as well as set alerts when they are over budget, the release states.

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