Cuts hurt DPW
Published on April 21st, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - Presently cutting $237,762 from his budget under the Selectmen's share of a $2.9 million override, the largest cut of any municipal department, Department of Public Works Director Bob Grover foresees his office's phone lines ringing non-stop in fiscal year 2005.
Not wishing to listen to his prediction come true, Grover has quite the idea to save additional funds.
"With the cuts that we're facing, my next idea would be to cut out my entire phone budget because of all the complaints we're going to get," jokes Grover lightheartedly. Yet despite that relaxed moment while sitting in his small backroom office at 16 Pine Street this Monday, Grover, like many department heads, worries about how his office will function efficiently under the Selectmen's proposed budget.
"I think it was a mistake not to put the DPW back to the way it was. And that's honestly not a selfish thing, if it was any other community and the department was this small, I'd say the same thing," Grover opined.
"We're very concerned here about the expectations of the citizens, what they believe they're getting [under this budget]. There's no sidewalk work imposed, tree work will be on an emergency basis, they'll be no park maintenance. The quality of life, with or without the override is going down. I just want people to know what they're voting on. If that's what the town wants, that's what they'll get," the DPW director added. Although the Selectmen did restore 148,100 to the DPW under its override budget, since those workers were already shifted over to the water and sewer budgets (paid for by resident's water and sewer bills), Grover doesn't feel that his department has realized much of a return.
"The only thing the override would do for us is these 2.4 DPW workers in the water and sewer budgets would be transferred back out. By putting those workers in the water and sewer budgets, we were only restoring the levels back to what they were in 1995," explained Grover.
"It doesn't give me any more personnel to respond to an emergency. It just changes how they're paid and what functions they're performing," he added.
Still losing one DPW laborer, a cemetery office position, all summer part-time help, half a janitor (which will be shared with Town Hall), and half of the tree warden's salary stipend, the ability of the DPW to respond to emergencies in FY05 will be Grover's largest concern.
"I think the biggest part of all this is the frustration of knowing we won't be able to do what we're supposed to be doing. It's not quantum physics, X amount of men can only do so much work. And like I've already said, our department is already half the size of comparable towns like Reading and Wakefield," Grover remarked.
"We're just grossly understaffed and it seriously impedes our ability to respond to an emergency. That may be what people want, but that certainly didn't seem to be the voice of the people during this past rainstorm. But I guess that was just the moment. It's the same for firemen, nobody really wants them until your house is on fire," Grover added.
Agreeing with Grover, Town Administrator David Berry would like to see more funding placed back into the DPW under the Selectmen's override budget.
"Obviously with major emergencies, they'll drop everything. But if there are minor emergencies, they're not going to respond that quickly...I think that's something the townspeople will notice in terms of the services they're not going to be able to get. So I'd like to see more money put into their budget," Berry commented. Yet another service that will suffer under both override and zero override budgets, the DPW will no longer be able to maintain the town's parks. And while the Selectmen proposed that youth sporting organizations take on that responsibility, Grover remains skeptical that the organizations will remain dedicated to the task over the long-term.
"I think it was a mistake on the Selectmen's part to put nothing back in for the parks. Not more than a few years ago, we spent all this money on them and now it's going to be incumbent on the youth organizations to maintain them. What's going to be their incentive when their season's over?" the DPW director asked rhetorically. Along with the reduced park and town land maintenance, the inability to conduct routine tree trimming as well as the ability to maintain the town's sidewalks and streets with town funds will also have a devastating affect, warns Grover.
"The town has 80 miles of roadway and a secondary roadway lasts about 25 years. So technically, we really should be repairing three miles of roads and sidewalks each year. The only roadwork that's proposed is the Chapter 90 money. You just can't keep ignoring your infrastructure."
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