WESTFIELD—Officials from the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) say there is a need for a new facility for their department, though factors such as cost may stand in the way.
DPW officials are hoping to get a new facility at some point to house several of its divisions, vehicles and staff, and are making preliminary assessments on the feasibility of such a project. The project could provide improved efficiency, shelter vehicles and equipment currently left to the elements and provide up-to-code work areas, but could also cost the city $20 million to build.
The idea is to have a building created that could house several of the divisions under one roof. According to DPW Assistant Director Fran Cain, this could be a 40,000 to 50,000 square foot location.
According to DPW Director David Billips, there are buildings that house divisions of the DPW that are in buildings with a variety of issues, including fire safety.
A portion of the Ponders Hollow Road facility filled with vehicles and other accessories (Photo provided by Fran Cain).
“Fire suppression is needed at two buildings,” he said. “Two local communities have recently lost equipment because of fires.”
This includes a facility at Ponders Hollow Road, which Cain said is “packed to the roof with equipment,” yet is without fire suppression technology.
“We’ve got millions [of dollars] in equipment in Ponders Hollow with no fire protection,” Billips said.
And to install adequate fire suppression technology just at Ponders Hollow Road, according to Cain, could cost in excess of $100,000.
In addition to the lack of fire suppression, Cain said that equipment is also stored outside at the Ponders Hollow Road location due to the lack of space the DPW has. This leads to additional exposure of equipment, which can contribute to wear, Cain noted.
Overhead storage area at the DPW facility on Ponders Hollow Road (Photo provided by Fran Cain).
“We have roughly $3 million in equipment at Ponders Hollow, both inside and outside,” Cain said. “We should have cold storage. It should be protected.”
In addition, Cain said that the salt shed at the Ponders Hollow Road location is inadequate in size, and the department could use one double its size.
Another potential issue Cain noted for all the buildings is that they each need air conditioning and heating maintenance.
Another area of Ponders Hollow DPW facility (Photo submitted by Fran Cain).
Also, Cain said that the Parks and Recreation and Natural Resources Division’s building on Holcombe Street has a roof that is at the end of its life and needs to be replaced.
According to Billips, the creation of a central DPW facility would also provide the department with the ability to have a central maintenance facility and staff that would be able to work on a variety of DPW vehicles all under one roof.
The cost of doing business
However, there is one large and looming figure that could make this project difficult—its cost.
The project, according to both Billips and Cain, could cost as much as $20 million to complete.
Billips said that this idea is based off of what the Orleans, Massachusetts, DPW did. There, Billips said they faced the similar issue of fragmented departments and they brought them all under one roof.
This cost Orleans about $20 million—the roughly estimated cost of a Westfield-based facility.
Billips said though, that the cost may only rise to build such a facility, and the need won’t go away.
“This is going to have to be done,” he said. “The longer you wait, the more it will cost you.”
However, Billips noted during a recent meeting at the Board of Public Works that the city does not have the money for such a project, so bonding may have to be done to fund such a project, which would then have to be paid off over a period of time.
The discussion though, is still in its preliminary stages, and it is yet to be determined if such will occur and when. According to Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan, he suggested that preliminary ideas be “drawn up and at least discussed,” but did not indicate any commitment on such a project right now.
“We’ve been talking about a central maintenance facility but its in the very, very early stages,” Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan said.
