The Department of Public Works (DPW) provides a wide range of services to the residents of
Franklin. It is organized into eight (8) divisions:
1. Administration
2. Engineering
3. Highway (including Highway Maintenance and Construction, Central Motors, Snow
and Ice Control)
4. Park and Grounds (Parks; School Grounds Maintenance and Forestry/Insect Control)
5. Water (including ground water withdrawals, water treatment and distribution)
6. Sewer
7. Solid Waste and Recycling (including the operation of the Beaver St. Station)
8. Street Lighting
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
The major functions of the Administrative Division include developing capital projects, long range planning, intergovernmental relations and compliance, grant writing, processing various private construction permits, drain layer licenses, DPW- purchasing, budgeting, accounting and payroll, and water/sewer/trash billing, sprinkler/hydrant billing and cross connection billing.
Capital Projects
The Administrative Division in conjunction with Engineering and the operating divisions develop major capital projects.
Design, permitting, bidding of I-495 Exit 16 Interchange has been completed.
Construction at this sight will commence fall 2009.
An extensive interview process was held and the engineering firm, Weston and Sampson was selected to work with the Town for the improved design of the Downtown area. Options and ideas are being considered to make the “Triangle” area more pedestrian and business friendly. Considerations include providing two-way traffic on route 140 again, underground utilities, period lighting, planters, sidewalk and cross brickwork, curbing and parking improvements and an improved transition with Dean College. The Town is still waiting for Funds to be released for this project. It is anticipated that “Survey work” will commence in fall 2009. Design work continued on Pleasant and Lincoln Streets, and survey work was undertaken on Grove Street.
The DPW continues to initiate, forecast, design, plan, fund and permit long-range projects with construction phased in over the next three to four years. Progress on specific capital construction projects is outlined in the respective Divisions’ portion of this report.
It is important to note, that many of these projects are preformed “in-house” without “bidding out” complete projects to “outside contractors”. To plan, design, permit, and construct these projects “in-house” is a very arduous and requires a lot of coordination and cooperation between each DPW Division and other Municipal Departments. By doing many of these projects this way, the Public Works Department is able to save substantial amounts of money that can be used on other capital improvement projects.
Operational
The DPW was slightly re-organized last year. With the Public Works being tasked with the additional responsibility of maintaining all outside areas of school buildings and associated fields, a “Park and Grounds” division was created in D.P.W. All though no new employees were hired, it was felt to improve and standardize conditions of Town properties, one division and manager should be responsible. The new Park and Grounds Division is responsible for the outside maintenance of all Town of Franklin buildings whether a School, the Town Municipal Building, water stations, parks, etc.
Grant Writing
The Town received a $130K grant for Storm Water Improvements and a $5K grant for recycling programs. Much of the credit for the Town’s success in obtaining highway funding and other grants goes to the Town’s legislative delegation, including Rep. Jim Vallee, Sen. Scott Brown, Sen. Karen Spilka and Congressmen James McGovern.
Permits and Long Range Planning
The Town successfully was able to mitigate a Water Management Act Permit with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (D.E.P.) that covers “Permitted” water use. This permit governs how much water the Town can use annually. D.E.P. had proposed radical changes without recognizing all the work and monies that the Town has spent in the past to improve the infrastructure of the distribution system. The State has also failed to recognize the significant past and future growth of the Town and the conservation efforts of all the residents of the Town of Franklin particularly during the summer months. The Town of Franklin submitted a more realistic permit plan and was able to negotiate a solution that recognized the Town of Franklin as a leader in water conservation that meets the future growth needs of Franklin. The Town of Franklin continues to take a lead and work with other area Towns to insure that the region’s water supplies are protected.
The Town of Franklin continues to follow and implement the new “Phase II” Storm Water Permits as required by the E.P.A. Phase II required the Town to highly regulate and monitor storm water throughout the Town. The Department will continue to refine and improve adopted regulation to continue to improve the Storm Water in Franklin.
Long range planning is critical in the area of Public Works and must be accomplished consistently in order to ensure that the Town’s water, sewer and roads can support the needs of our residents. The Town’s Master Plan, the 1993 Water Distribution System Study, Sewer System Evaluation Study and the Sewer System Master Plan studies are important sources of planning information, which are utilized to support this planning effort. In October 2001, Tata & Howard of Westborough completed the distribution system update to the 1993 Water Master Plan. This identified approximately $40M in water system needs. The ‘20/20’ plan allows the Town to address the most critical of these needs.
Even though the Town of Franklin presently has a long-term trash disposal contract with Wheelabrator Corporation in Millbury The DPW continues to “look outside the box” to improve town wide recycling and collection procedures. The Town is in the process of negotiating a new long-term trash-hauling contract with various contractors. All options are being considered for collection, including “pay as you throw”, single stream, automation and any combination of them. We continue to work with the School Department and the Recycling Committee to reduce the amount of tonnage into the “Waste Stream” and increase recycling.
The DPW continues to work with both D.E.P. and the Massachusetts Department of Recreation and Conservation to facilitate the final closing and capping of the Beaver Street Landfill Site.
Hails and Farewells
The Department was fortunate to add the following people to its staff last year: Mr. Carlos Rebelo as the new Park and Grounds Superintendent, Mr. Alan Tetreault to the Highway Department. Mr. Robert Costanza, Mr. John Bedoya, Ms. Ann Durham and Mr. Philip Vondras transferred from the School department into the new Parks Division. Ms. Valerie Carrachino joined the office staff.
With gains, there are always losses. The greatest loss of the Department was the retirement of Mr. Phillip Brunelli as the Superintendent of Highway Department. Phil had a long career with the Department and moved up the ranks to “Superintendent”. Above all, Phil was a great “Snow Boss”. During the winter months, the roads in Franklin were always safest and best around with Phil running the snow program. Ms. Denise Zambrowski, the Town’s Environmental Affairs Coordinator, left for job opportunity in the “Private Sector”. Ms. Yvonne Tran was laid off as a result of budget cuts.
Thanks
As the Director, I as always owe many thanks to my staff that make this whole department work and serve all residents in a timely manner. Everyone is committed to providing extraordinary service to the Town in the most cost-effective manner possible. The Town Engineer Mr. William Yadisernia, Office Manager Mrs. Paula Lombardi, Deputy Director of Operations Mr. Anthony Mucciarone, Water and Sewer Superintendent Mr. Alfred Boone, Highway Superintendent Mr. Kenneth Gormley, Park and Grounds Superintendent Carlos Rebelo, G.I.S. Coordinator Mr. James Esterbrook and Engineering Aid Mr. Warren Groth are all dedicated professionals that put in so much extra time and effort to make this Department a success. The Town and I are very fortunate to have such talented individuals to work with. I would also like to thank Linda Feeley, Paula Juarez, Sandy Wedge, Faith Flaherty and Valerie Carrachino who support the Administration Division. These individuals respond quickly and with courtesy to hundreds of requests for assistance and information throughout the year.
I would especially like to thank the “Crew” and the mechanics that work out of the D.P.W. garage. These are the ladies and gentlemen that are not always seen but provide the day-to-day services that are taken for granted. They pump, treat and deliver safe drinking water, they care for parks and ball fields, and they maintain the roadways, repair and sustain not only Public Work’s vehicles but also all Town owned vehicles and handle all our wastes. They are always available, day and night, working long hours to assist in any emergency situation whether it is snow removal, water breaks, sewer backups, wind/electric storms, flooding, etc. They are all extremely professional and dedicated to their jobs; I cannot thank them enough.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert A. Cantoreggi II
Director of Public Works
Paula M. Lombardi
Office Manager
From the 2009 Town of Franklin Annual Report. This is available in a printed version at the Municipal Building or online at the Town website here. Additional departments of the DPW will be reproduced here soon.
You can visit the DPW pages on the Town website here
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_DPW/index
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