(1) There may be in each city of the first class a board of public works which shall consist of three members, each having a three-year term of office, or five members, each having a five-year term of office, the number to be set by ordinance, which members shall be residents of such city and be appointed by the mayor with the assent of the city council. When such board is first established, one member shall be appointed for a term of one year, one for two years, and one for three years and, in the case of a five-member board, an additional member shall be so appointed for four years and another for five years. Thereafter, as their terms expire, all members shall be appointed for a full term of three or five years as the case may be. The mayor, with the assent of the city council, shall designate one of the members of such board to be the chairperson thereof.

(2) Each of the members of the board of public works shall, before entering upon the discharge of his or her duties, take an oath to discharge faithfully the duties of the office.

(3) It shall be the duty of the board of public works to (a) make contracts on behalf of the city for the performance of all such work and erection of all such improvements in the manner provided in section 16-321, (b) superintend the performance of all such work and the erection of all such improvements, (c) approve the estimates of the city engineer, which may be made from time to time, of the value of the work as the same may progress, (d) accept any work done or improvements made when the same shall be fully completed according to contract, subject to the approval of the mayor and city council, and (e) perform such other duties as may be conferred upon such board by ordinance.

(4) Any member of the board of public works may at any time be removed from office by the mayor and a majority of the city council, and the proceedings in regard thereto shall be entered in the journal of the city council.