David Comerford

Mr. Comerford was owner of R&D Construction Management who worked for various municipal and private clients in construction management, fund procurement, site remediation and property development.

Helped to bring in over $40 million in projects including a senior citizen housing development in Elmira, N.Y., Niagara County’s safety training facility, a public library in the Town of Collins, a senior citizen activity center in the Town of Amherst, rehabilitation of the Town of Amherst sewage treatment plant, rehabilitation of Dunn Tire Park, the 20,000 seat stadium of the Triple AAA Buffalo Bisons, and the reconstruction/rehabilitation of a 250-unit housing project in North Tonawanda. Responsible for proposal submission, funding, design coordination, construction management, construction inspection and construction.

Mr. Comerford spent 10 years as the Commissioner of the Buffalo Sewer Authority (BSA). He was the chief administrator for a 560 million gallon per day sewerage conveyance and treatment operation serving 450,000 consumers in the City of Buffalo and 10 surrounding municipalities. He managed all aspects of department of over 200 employees with an annual operating budget of $53 million, including contract negotiations with two unions, budget preparation and oversight of a $20 million annual capital improvement program.

At the BSA, Mr. Comerford established a ten year, $250 million asset management/capital spending program to address the needs of the conveyance and treatment systems. He also saved $5 million per year by cutting utility costs through upgrades to equipment, and operations efficiencies and innovations. These efforts reduced natural gas usage by 60% and electrical usage by 30%.

Mr. Comerford also served as the Erie County Highway Commissioner for six years and directed the activities of over 350 employees in the Erie County Highway Department with an annual operating budget of over $24 million and an annual capital budget of over $20 million. Mr. Comerford directed the design, construction and maintenance of 1200 miles of road, 282 bridges and 408 culverts; snow and ice plowing and removal for over 700 miles of road; traffic engineering; drainage and flood control; fleet management; environmental compliance and tree and brush removal and control. At Erie County, Mr. Comerford established a five-year program to repair the nearly 80% deficient County roads. Highlight of program was developing an in-house paving program to replace costlier contracted services. Upon leaving his post, the percentage of deficient roads in the County was down below 30%.

Mr. Comerford served as Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Buffalo for nine years where he managed the activities of over 600 employees in three major divisions: Engineering, Buildings and Water, with a combined $60 million operating budget and a $30 million capital budget. Activities of the department include: street and bridge design and construction; street paving and maintenance; traffic engineering; lift bridge maintenance and operation; street lighting; fleet maintenance; architectural services; new construction plan review and inspection; permit and license issuance; building maintenance; flood control management; telecommunications; energy conservation; recycling; solid waste disposal and the operation of two solid waste transfer stations; environmental compliance; snow removal; and all facets of water provision including treatment, pumping, distribution and revenue management. As Commissioner, Mr. Comerford directed the planning, design and construction of over $300 million in projects including roads, bridges, waterlines, four new community centers, a police station, a fire station and an ice rink.

Mr. Comerford spearheaded the creation of a Water Authority in the City of Buffalo which allowed the City to improve its bond rating and address its antiquated water system by selling $60 million in bonds and setting up a 10 year, $120 million capital improvement program. Part of this capital plan converted the City to a 100% water metering program.