Herewith I submit the Department of Public Works report for the year ending December 31, 2003, covering the following: Public Works Administration, Street Maintenance, Sanitary Sewer Maintenance, Stormwater Maintenance, Central Fleet Maintenance, Deltas & Grounds Maintenance, Forestry Services, Solid Waste Collection & Disposal, Recycling, Capital and Personnel.
In 2002, the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Water Commissioners and the Board of Cemetery Commissioners signed a joint resolution expressing their support in principle of a consolidated public works department and charged the Town Administrator and the Highway Superintendent to produce a report which evaluated all key issues related to a potential consolidation of the Town’s public works functions. The April, 2003 Town Meeting passed a Home Rule Petition and associated by-laws to reorganize the public works functions and create a Department of Public Works. The new Department of Public Works consisting of the Cemetery Division, Highway Division (including Parks and Facilities) and the Water Division began to operate under the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator and the newly created position of Director of Public
Works on July 1, 2003.
During 2003, Public Works Administration originated 10 contracts for vehicles, supplies and/or services under Chapter 30B, the Uniform Procurement Act. Significant administrative time was spent working with the Tree Warden, Tree Service Company, Executive Safety Committee, North East Solid Waste Committee (NESWC), Shade Tree Committee and Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee. The Highway Division installed one new bench under the Benches for Belmont program. Highway personnel assisted with the following community projects: Voting, Booster’s Carnival, Belmont Center Town Day, Holiday Lighting Ceremony in Belmont Center, and the Easter Parade in Belmont Center.
HIGHWAY DIVISION
Street Maintenance
The Highway Division maintained, cleaned and signed Belmont’s 77.76 miles of public roads. In addition, we cleaned, signed and performed minor maintenance work 8.10 miles of private ways.
During 2003, a total of 21 sidewalks were repaired. The Town’s contractor repaired or replaced 13 concrete sidewalks at various locations by totaling 16,478 square feet. Highway personnel repaired or replaced 8 concrete sidewalks along with 1 asphalt sidewalk amounting to 2,246 square feet.
The deterioration of the roads continues to be a major concern. With each passing year, additional manpower and funding are required to maintain the roadways. A program using Chapter 90 funding for the Pavement Management Program and the design for the reconstruction of Pleasant Street continued. These funds are used to leverage federal construction funds for road improvements on Pleasant Street with construction expected to begin
in 2004. Planning continues to address the reconstruction of the Belmont Street/Trapelo Road corridor. The Pavement Management Program scheduled for 2003 continued to address the serious condition of the roads. A coordinated approach working with the Town Administrator, Community Development Department and Water Division has developed a plan to address the road and sidewalk improvements and coordinate the replacement and repair of utilities.
Street signs, regulatory and traffic signs were purchased, prepared, erected and maintained by the Highway Division.
Crosswalks, center and parking lines were repainted by Highway personnel during the year. The Highway personnel painted blue and white handicap markings on 51 various designated parking spaces throughout Town. A total of 1,247 gallons of white, 650 gallons of yellow, 5 gallons of black, and 25 gallons of blue traffic paint were purchased during 2003. Reimbursement for damaged signs and Town property totaled $ 1,481.71.
During 2003, Highway personnel responded to 32 overtime snow or ice calls ranging from a trace to 28 inches. All snow and ice storms were cleared and sanded by Division personnel with assistance from other Town employees from the Water, Parks & Facilities, Cemetery Divisions and Electric Light Department. Contractors assisted with snow plowing during five storms in 2003. The total snowfall for calendar year 2003 was 111.0 inches. Belmont’s 1995 By-Law covering a Snow Emergency Parking Ban was authorized and put into effect four times during 2003.
Sanitary Sewer Maintenance
Belmont has two sanitary sewer pumping stations, one located on Stony Brook Road and the other on Woodbine Road, which the Highway Division maintains and services on a weekly basis. Each week the division also maintains and cleans selected main lines throughout the Town as part of a regular maintenance program. The division is responsible for 76 miles of main lines, appurtenances and 6,641 building services.
During 2003, twenty individual building connections were televised to determine the condition and priority for repair. As a part of our ongoing maintenance program, two sanitary sewer lines were relayed and seven were repaired. The Highway Division responded to 257 building stoppages during the year.
In April of 2003 a Sewer Rate Study was completed by Woodcock and Associates. With the recommendation of our consultant, The Board of Selectmen voted to increase the metered sewer charge as of June 2003 to $7.21/CCF with a minimum service charge of $5.04 per billing. The “lifeline” rate is at $6.13/CCF.
The replacement of the Stony Brook Pumping Station has been placed on the Long Term Capital needs request at an estimated cost of $106,900.00.
Storm Drain Maintenance
The annual cleaning of approximately 1,900 catch basins was completed during the spring by a private contractor. An ongoing program of maintenance and cleaning of main lines was continued during 2003. Highway personnel connected four storm services to the Town’s storm drain system. The division is responsible for maintenance of all catch basins, manholes and 54 miles of main lines. Maintenance and cleaning is also provided for storm drain connections to buildings.
Under the Sanitary Sewer and Storm Drain Capital Program the Highway Division was authorized to purchase one dump truck at a cost of $63,700.00
Through the Office of Community Development the Town has been successful in obtaining a grant from Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for $153,750.00 to replace the Wellington Brook grate behind the main library. This improvement has been substantially completed by the year’s end and is expected to alleviate the potential flooding of the immediate area.
Central Fleet Maintenance Facility
Since 1981 the Highway Division has managed a Central Fleet Maintenance facility at the Highway Yard on C Street. Most Town owned vehicles and equipment are serviced and fueled at this location. Gasoline, diesel fuel, tires, lubrication, preventive and general maintenance along with extensive motor repair is available to Town Departments. Waste oil continues to be accepted from residents in addition to waste oil generated from the Town’s vehicle maintenance program. Equipment which supports all Highway Division programs is stored at this facility as well.
Deltas and Grounds Maintenance
The Highway Division is responsible for 52 separate deltas, islands and grounds including most of the land around Clay Pit Pond. During the spring all areas were cleaned and for the balance of the growing season the property was mowed, maintained and cleaned.
Six summer laborers were authorized and employed during the growing season to assist with maintenance.
The generous contributions of the Belmont Garden Club funded the purchase and planting installation of 75 Callery pear trees on the Concord Avenue center island between Common Street and Blanchard Road. The Garden Club has also provided labor and plantings to enhance several public areas throughout the Town. Their generosity and public spirit has helped enormously to beautify the town and is especially appreciated given recent budget limitations. This past summer we again enjoyed a dramatic improvement in the appearance of these public spaces.
Forestry Service
Asplundh Tree Expert Company served the first year of a three-year contract for tree care during fiscal year 2004. Thomas D. Walsh also served the first year of a three-year term as Tree Warden and his report follows on page 183.
Solid Waste Collection and Disposal
Residential solid waste continues to be collected once per week at each household, with recyclables collected every other week. Solid waste is transported to the Wheelabrator North Andover (WNA) Resource/Recovery Facility in North Andover. Since 1985 the Town has contracted to dispose of its solid waste at the Resource/Recovery Facility for a period of twenty years, or until the year 2005.
During 2003, as a member of the North East Solid Waste Committee (NESWC) the Town continued to pursue every option to minimize solid waste disposal costs.
Russell Disposal served the third year of a five-year contract as our collection contractor during 2003. During 2003, the Town contracted with Northside Carting to deliver shortfall tonnage to meet our guaranteed annual tonnage commitment at WNA.
The Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee continues to assist the Town by focusing on increased public education for the recycling program and studying the implementation of a fee based solid waste program. The committee’s guidance and assistance is appreciated and has been an integral part of expanding the Town’s successful recycling program.
In addition to weekly residential trash and the weekly appliance collection for recycling, the program also collects and recycles on an every other week schedule clear, green and brown glass, #1 thru #7 plastics, steel/tin/metal containers, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, newsprint, junk mail, mixed paper and telephone books. Cathode ray tubes (televisions and computer monitors) are collected weekly as scheduled. Yard waste is collected every other week from April to mid October and weekly during the fall leaf season.
During Fiscal Year 2003, the Town recycled 4,991.97 tons or 33.63 % from the residential solid waste stream. The Town realized $ 1,625.00 from the sale of recycling bins along with $2,360.00 from the sale of compost bins.
Transfer Station Operation and Site
The Master Land Use Plan for the site surrounding the Transfer Station was followed during 2003. The site continues to be used for solid fill disposal from public works operations. Asphalt, concrete, wood chips, tree stumps and logs from public works operations continue to be stored at the site before being recycled.
For the eleventh fall season, leaves were collected weekly in containers by our solid waste contractor to be composted commercially out of town. The fee to local landscape contractors for depositing leaves in our compost pile at the transfer station site on 1130 Concord Avenue for the fall season ($400 per vehicle) generated $7,600.00 in revenue. Residents were allowed to bring leaves to the compost area at no charge. For the last thirteen years, the division has windrowed the leaves in an effort to facilitate decomposition. Active marketing enabled a large amount of leaf compost to be hauled out of town and recycled at no cost. We continue to actively seek markets for leaf compost so that we will have space for storage of future years’ leaves for composting.
Through the Office of Community Development the town has retained Camp Dresser & McKee to provide an engineering assessment of the former Incinerator Site at 1130 Concord Avenue to comply with The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s regulations.
Parks and Facilities
With the final replacement of the town’s aging metal playgrounds completed last year, attention turned to concerns about the safety and maintenance of Joey’s Park, a popular wooden play structure at the Winn Brook field. Working with the Recreation Commission and interested citizens, a study of safety and maintenance issues was commissioned to address the condition of this play structure. We expect to develop a plan and implement recommended improvements while maintaining the unique character of this playground.
The town athletic fields continue to enjoy improvements with the financial aid of the Belmont Soccer Association, the Brendan Grant Foundation and the Belmont Baseball Association. Materials donated by the Brendan Grant Foundation and the Belmont Baseball Association have been applied to the varsity baseball diamond and to the town field diamond. New backstop fencing will be completed at the Grove Street little league fields. The Belmont Soccer Association donated approximately $30,000.00 to maintain the Pequossette, Grove Street and Junior Varsity Soccer fields. This work included slice seeding, sodding, fertilizing and weed control. The Parks and Facilities maintenance staff worked closely with the Belmont High School Athletic Facility Building Committee along with all of the town sports organizations in the
care and maintenance of athletic facilities.
We continue to update the Viglirolo skating rink. We installed a filtering system on the compressors to make sure the brine, which goes through the system, is both clean and clear. We are updating the cooling system at the skating rink with a new chiller barrel, new motors, new condensers, and we rebuilt a brine pump and a compressor as quickly as possible. New boards, glass and carpeting have been improvements from the past few years.
At the Underwood Pool we have installed new rear doors and a new roof. We have pressure washed the outside of the building which was flaking badly and repainted the structure inside and out. We plan on repatching the concrete floor and painting the pool. We have purchased new ionizer elements to better control the chlorine and bacteria levels at the pool. These improvements have helped to keep the pool open and safe for the resident’s enjoyment.
Capital
Through the Capital Equipment Program the Highway Division replaced two pickup trucks at a cost of $ 56,000.00.
The Parks and Facilities group replaced a pickup truck at a cost of $32,000.
Personnel
At year’s end, the Highway Division had 29 budgeted full time employees, and a part time Tree Warden. The Parks and Facilities group had 5 budgeted full time employees.
Several employees successfully completed educational courses related to their employment, which were funded by the town during 2003. Several employee safety programs were held during 2003 in conjunction with the Executive Safety Committee. The Highway Division represented by one team, Paul Mosca & Michael Eccles, participated in the City of Boston Snow Plow and Safety Training in September 2003. We were pleased that our team placed in several events.
Our best wishes to Austin (Butch) Bennett retiring on December 31, 2003 with 38 years of dedicated service; Richard Currier retiring on December 31, 2003 with 37 years of dedicated service; Robert Garber retiring on December 31, 2003 with 35 years of dedicated service.
I wish to express my appreciation to the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Department and Division Managers, Shade Tree Committee, Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee, all other committees and employees for their support, cooperation and assistance during 2003.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter J. Castanino, Director of Public Works
TREE WARDEN
For the seventeenth consecutive year, the Town of Belmont was recognized as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Arbor Day was celebrated on April 30, 2003 with the planting of a Bradford Pear tree honoring the Town’s Fire and Police Departments at the Daniel Butler School on White Street. The ceremony took place with the Butler School’s fourth grade participating.
During 2003, the Town purchased 159 trees and planted them in various locations. Trees were watered during the growing months.
The contractor maintained public shade trees predominantly in response to requests from citizens for service. In addition to maintenance work performed on these larger public shade trees, many small, young trees were pruned as part of our pro-active program to assure good form, structure, health and vigor as they develop towards maturity. Storm damaged trees also were routinely repaired to insure the long-term health of the affected trees.
Two Tree Hearings were held during the year.
As Tree Warden, I express my appreciation and thanks to the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Director of Public Works, Department Managers, Shade Tree Committee and employees of the Town for their support, cooperation and assistance during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas D. Walsh, Tree Warden
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