WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik sent a request to the City Council at its Oct. 16 session to amend the ordnance establishing the position of director of lands and natural resources for the city and the line of succession.
The current ordinance (Chapter 13, Article VII, section 12-211) was approved in 1971 when the position was established and reads:
“There is hereby established the office of lands and natural resources under the provisions of M.G.L.A. c. 41, § 69G. Such office shall have charge of such lands as may be committed to its care and may perform such maintenance and improvement work on other municipal lands as may be permitted by the board, department, commission or committee in charge thereof. Such office shall exercise the duties of tree warden and superintendent of insect pest control. Such office shall be under the control of a director qualified by training and experience in the field of arboriculture and licensed by the pesticide board in the(state) Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (currently the Department of Environmental Protection).”
The ordinance also establishes a line of succession for performance of those duties under section 13-212 which is where Knapik is seeking an amendment. The current language states:
“In the absence of appropriation to staff the office of lands and natural resources or upon the occurrence of such other event which causes a vacancy in the position of director of lands and natural resources, the duties of the tree warden shall be exercised by the superintendent of public works.”
Knapik said Friday that he submitted the ordinance amendment at the request of interim Public Works Superintendent Dave Billips, also superintendent of the Water Resource Department overseeing the city’s drinking water system and the wastewater treatment plant, who is seeking authority to delegate the duties of tree warden to the deputy Public Works superintendent.
Knapik also said the city has hired a consulting firm to assess the “operations of the municipal public works” and provide recommendations to increase managerial efficiency.
“Dave will remain in place until we receive that report, at which time he will provide my office and the City Council with recommendations for the structure of public works operations,” Knapik said.
“We usually do this type of assessment when there is a vacancy in a department’s management position,” Knapik said. “It’s an opportunity to look at the job description and possible consolidation.”
Billips has been the interim DPW superintendent since August.
Knapik said in August, when announcing Billips interim appointment, that he is seeking “to break down barriers among the city’s public works departments and to use human resources in a more efficient manner.”
Knapik said the current structure evolved over decades and that barriers exist between the current departments which “inhibit efficiency. Sewers are under the DPW, while pump stations and the wastewater treatment plant are under the control of the Water Resource Department.”
Knapik said that the wastewater treatment plant is responsible for reporting to the state Department of Environmental Protection for sewer malfunction, such a sewer backups, but needs data from Public Works to complete the DEP reports.
“Work is not getting done because of the lack of communication between departments,” Knapik said. “We have to break down those barriers, clarify who does what.”
“Do we really need an $88,000 a year director for a relatively small department?” Knapik asked. “The Public Works Department has shrunk over the years and now has only about a dozen employees. Much of the work formerly done by the DPW is now performed by outside contractors.
“The timeline for completion for the management consultant to submit a report is between six and eight months,” Knapik said in August. “What may result is a singular department head overseeing public works, sanitation, natural resources (parks and playgrounds), water, sewer and wastewater treatment.”
