CHRISTOPHER KEEFE
WESTFIELD – The City Council voted 10-2 to approve the consolidation of several municipal departments, responsible for maintaining the city’s infrastructure, into one Public Works organization.
The vote belies the uneasiness of several councilors who voted for the ordinance amendment and the two who voted against the organizational consolidation.
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe voted against the amendment, but said he would do so because he favors decentralized government where departments report to several boards and commissions.
“There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the (amendment),” Keefe said. “It just goes against my principles. I have issues with centralization of authority.”
At-large Councilor Cindy Harris has voted against any measure which create new positions in city government.
CINDY HARRIS
“The taxpayers who have talked to me do not support adding five new positions,” Harris, who also voted against transferring $30,000 from the Purchasing Department to the mayor’s staffing budget to hire a facilities manager, another new post at City Hall, said.
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty voted “yes“ to the DPW consolidation, but warned that he may vote “no” to any budgetary increase for the new organization in June.
“I will vote for this (consolidation amendment), but I am concerned about the budget,” Flaherty said. “We should be doing everything we can to save money.”
Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose said the DPW has been understaffed for years and with consolidation the labor force of departments will be better utilized.
“This would speed up resolving citizen concerns with a consolidation of the workforce and resources,” Hoose said.
DAVID FLAHERTY
The revised DPW structure includes administration and four functional divisions, each headed by a deputy superintendent. The divisions are Public Works; Wastewater and Collections Systems; Parks and Recreation; and Water.
The public works division will have two subdivisions: a highway subdivision and a subdivision for refuse, recycling collections and for the transfer station operations.
The wastewater division includes the wastewater treatment plant and the collections segment of that division which is related to stormwater and sewer line maintenance.
The parks and recreation division will include the natural resources subdivision for maintenance of the city’s parks and infrastructure, as well as a tree maintenance subdivision.
The water department will remain pretty much within its current structure.
BRIAN HOOSE
The revised department management would have a director and assistant director overseeing the four deputy superintendents. Administrative functions, engineering (now in the water resource department), data administration (IT), budget analysis and a stormwater/solid waste manager would report directly to the DPW director.
The City Council also approved, by a vote of 8-4, the transfer of $30,000 from the Purchasing Department to the mayor’s staffing budget. Those funds will be used to hire a new director for the newly created Department of Facilities Maintenance for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The facilities manager will be responsible for maintenance of all municipal buildings and facilities, including those of the School Department.
The council approved an ordinance creating the new facilities maintenance department, which theoretically will be funding in the next fiscal year by transferring money, historically contained in each department’s budget, to the new department.
The new Department of Facilities & Grounds was created in November, on an 8-5 council vote, to centralize building and grounds maintenance; to facilitate both short and long-term capital investment, through bonding, intended to protect the recent investment of more than $25 million to repair municipal buildings and schools across the city. The maintenance director will also be responsible for establishing a consolidated facilities work order system.
