By Lindsay Sutton
If you've ever admired New Town's green spaces, walked along the lakes, stopped for prom, wedding, or graduation photos, or enjoyed an evening stroll through the neighborhood, chances are Chris Bateman had a hand in making that experience possible. You probably just didn't know it. That's because much of Chris's work happens underground- literally.
Beneath New Town's streets, parks, and green spaces lies an intricate network of irrigation lines, pumps, valves, and connections that help make New Town the beautiful place residents know and love. It's a system most people never have to think about- and that's exactly how Chris knows he's done his job.
Behind it all is Chris, the Landscape and Irrigation Manager for the New Town General Assembly.
Chris has been part of New Town's story since before the very first shovel of dirt was turned. After spending 12 years building and maintaining golf courses throughout the St. Louis area- including Whitmoor, Missouri Bluffs, The Links at Dardenne, and Old Hickory- he joined Whittaker Homes as Landscape and Irrigation Manager, overseeing landscaping and common areas throughout their developments.
When the housing market slowed in 2007, Greg Whittaker asked Chris if he would stay on and focus exclusively on New Town through the General Assembly. Lucky for us, he said yes. Technically, Chris has been here since 2003- before construction even began and plans to remain until the very last home is built several years from now.
Outside of New Town, Chris has also owned C & J Irrigation Specialist LLC for more than 20 years, specializing in irrigation start-ups, blowouts, backflow testing, repairs, and seasonal maintenance. Between his business and his role in New Town, it's safe to say Chris knows irrigation inside and out.
A typical week rarely goes according to plan. Mondays begin with surveying the property to make sure construction projects, utility work, street repairs, or fiber installations haven't impacted common ground or underground irrigation lines. Tuesdays are often spent tracking down and repairing leaks, while the rest of the week is focused on keeping New Town's irrigation systems running before the busy weekends arrive.
Then there are the unexpected calls. Chris is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, averaging about a dozen late-night or weekend emergencies every summer. During heavy rain events, he's often out checking lake levels, monitoring the community's pump stations, and making sure flood-control systems are functioning
exactly as they should. Thanks to improvements made over the past few years, those systems have dramatically reduced flooding concerns- but someone still has to be there when Mother Nature decides to put them to the test.
Chris oversees New Town's lakes, fountains, drainage systems, pumps, stormwater infrastructure, irrigation network, and many of the repairs handled by the General Assembly maintenance team. Somewhere along the way, he's even become a pretty capable John Deere Gator mechanic. Considering the maintenance crew drives the utility vehicles seven days a week, and as Chris jokes, "we drive in a lot of circles every week”- that skill has become just another part of the job.
If there's one thing that keeps him busiest, though, it isn't pumps or fountains, it's the trees. "The trees are my main source of irrigation repairs," Chris explains. "I love every tree we have- they're what makes New Town so unique and special- but boy do they do a lot of damage to irrigation."
The beautiful mature trees that define New Town's streetscape also have a habit of following irrigation trenches with their roots, eventually cracking underground pipes. Some sections have required repairs four or more times as the roots continue to grow just beyond the previous fix. In nearly 40 years in the landscape industry, Chris says he's never needed a chainsaw for irrigation repairs as often as he has in New Town.
That's where the true scale of his job starts to sink in. There are more than 12,000 sprinkler heads throughout New Town's common ground, all supplied by four separate pump stations drawing water from the lakes. Some irrigation lines stretch for thousands of feet just to reach a single landscaped area.
Even more remarkable, Chris knows where every one of them is. "I'm proud to say I know where every single head, line, and connection is located," he says.
Ironically, those same trees that keep him busiest are also one of the accomplishments he's most proud of. During New Town's earliest planning stages, the ambitious decision was made to grow 10,000 trees in an on-site nursery. Chris worked alongside Weise Nursery to install irrigation for every sapling, helping nurture the trees that we all know and love.
Today, it's hard for many visitors to believe the community is only 23 years old. "The trees are what make New Town special," Chris says.
Not every project has gone exactly according to plan, though. Years ago, he designed an automatic drip irrigation system to water the community's hanging baskets and decorative flower pots, eliminating the need for daily hand watering. It worked beautifully- until shifting concrete and growing tree roots began breaking the underground pipes. "It was nice for the first twenty years," Chris admits. Needless to say, future designs have been adjusted.
For Chris, the most rewarding part of the job has never been repairing a broken irrigation line or solving a complicated maintenance issue. It's seeing people enjoy the community he's spent more than two decades helping care for.
Whether it's families enjoying the playground, anglers casting a line into one of the lakes, friends gathering for concerts and community events, or photographers capturing life's biggest milestones, those everyday moments remind Chris why the work matters.
"I am most proud when I see people coming to take photos and walking around enjoying what New Town has to offer."
While this month's Community Hero shines a light on his years of dedication, he insists none of it would be possible without the rest of the General Assembly team.
"The men and women of the General Assembly are what keep this subdivision going seven days a week," he says. "I couldn't do what I do without them. I'm only responsible for keeping it green."
The next time you're out enjoying everything New Town has to offer, take a moment to appreciate all of the work happening quietly behind the scenes and beneath the surface that helps make this community what it is. It's one more reminder that some of New Town's biggest contributions happen where few people ever notice them.
For Chris Bateman, that's simply all part of the job.
Caption: Believe it or not, this sprinkler
head has been completely overtaken by a
tree root. It's just one example of the
hidden repairs Chris makes to keep New
Town's irrigation system running smoothly.