CHRISTOPHER KEEFE
WESTFIELD – The Legislative & Ordinance Committee voted Wednesday night to present an ordinance amendment which will restructure several infrastructure and service departments, forming a combined public works department to be presented to the full City Council Monday night.
The reorganization was presented to the L&O by Water Superintendent Dave Billips, who is also the interim public works superintendent.
The revised 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.
MARY L. O’CONNELL
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.
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.
Billips said that the existing board overseeing departments which would become a division and subdivision will remain in place and continue to provide oversight of those areas.
“There are a lot of efficiencies that can be realized,” Billips said. Those efficiencies include equipment repair, equipment sharing, combined engineering resources, training, and improved communication.
“We’re doing a lot of training that will make all departments better,” Billips said. “We can all benefit. We have some really smart talented people.”
“We should be doing more work in-house,” Billips said, “Reducing our reliance on outside contractors and consultants. We have to have a vision of looking four or five years down the road.”
Ward 1 City Councilor Christopher Keefe, an L&O member, questioned how the reorganization would resolve the “controversial” issue of stormwater funding accountability.
Billips said the four public works employees whose salaries are currently paid through the stormwater fee will be moved into the wastewater treatment plant budget, so that all of the stormwater funding is used to address problems and not fund salaries.
“We have over 500 (storm drainage) outfalls in the city and we’re putting a lot more pollution into the rivers than you do when you flush a toilet, which gets treated at the plant. Stormwater just flows into the rivers,” Billips said.
Ward 4 City Councilor Mary O’Connell requested that Ken Magarian, a long time parks and recreation commissioner, be given an opportunity to speak Wednesday night.
“This seems to be a very good and well thought out approach,” Magarian said.
Keefe said that Section 11 Of the City Charter authorized the City Council to change the organization of municipal departments and responsibilities of department supervisors.
Keefe than made a motion to bring the proposed ordinance amendment as presented, a 68-page document, to the City Council Monday night with a positive recommendation.
