From the Town Administrator's FY 2027 Budget narrative, each department's story is worth sharing.
General Purpose
The Department of Public Works is responsible for meeting the public infrastructure needs of the Town. We design, build, and maintain infrastructure including roads, sidewalks, bridges, parking lots, parks and fields, drainage systems, traffic lighting, street lighting and all town signs.
The DPW also maintains the Town’s fleet of vehicles and equipment and runs the Town’s Recycling Center. We manage all water, sewer, solid waste and stormwater infrastructure and programs, although these areas are budgeted through our enterprise funds. We manage all areas with the highest standards of customer service and most efficient use of Town resources possible.
The assigned areas of responsibility are the following seven budget areas; Highway-General Maintenance (422-40), Grounds and Parks (422-41), Snow and Ice Removal, (422-42), Central Motors (422-43), Recycling Center (422-46), Administration & Engineering (422-49), and Street Lights (424).
Core Functions
Overall Department of Public Works Functions
● Customer Service
○ Continually improve procedures to meet Town standards for customer service. Proactively anticipate customer needs. Explore increased use of technology on an ongoing basis.
● Management and Administration
○ Continuously evaluate means and methods of service delivery and, where applicable, implement best practices. Lead in technology implementation for Public Works.
● Infrastructure Planning
○ Participate in general growth planning and lead in planning to meet future infrastructure needs resulting from Town growth. Monitor water system master plan to reflect the impact of improvements initiated to date. Evaluate the need for sewer/stormwater infrastructure improvements reflective of recent DEP policies.
● Infrastructure Design and Construction
○ Ensure public infrastructure design and construction, whether by public or private parties, meets Town and professional standards, and results in cost effective projects and minimizes environmental and neighborhood impacts.
● Public Infrastructure Maintenance
○ Proactively maintain all DPW-assigned public infrastructure assets and support equipment to meet service requirements.
● Emergency Response
○ As first responders we must be in a position to respond to major and minor emergencies to restore and maintain services.
Director of Public Works
● Develop and maintain relationships with State and Federal agencies for permitting and regulatory compliance.
● Long range infrastructure and asset management planning.
● Resource development, including improving efficiency, acquiring grants, development of support facilities, coordination of divisions, etc.
● Annual planning, budgeting, setting goals, and program evaluation.
● EPA MS4 Stormwater implementation.
● Evaluate all new technologies: GPS, Watersmart, ArcGIS, Fleetio Software, Brightly, etc. throughout the organization to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
● Continue to work with other communities to share resources.
Administration Division
● Administration of water, sewer, sprinkler, hydrant, cross-connection, backflow, solid waste & recycling, and stormwater billing.
● Customer Service: Counter and telephone intake, public notifications, etc.
● Permit processing (water, sewer, street excavation, public way access, drain layers licenses, etc.)
● DPW-wide financial management: budgeting, payroll, AP/AR, purchasing, etc.
● Support to operating divisions
Engineering and Construction Division (Includes GIS)
● Manage the design and construction of Capital Improvement projects while coordinating with operating divisions.
● Provide technical review of private development site plans and subdivisions for the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and Board of Appeals.
● Provide construction inspection for municipal capital projects and work in the public right of way.
● Manage street excavation and ensure all by-laws are followed.
● Maintain official Town records and maps.
● GIS (Geographic Information System) - Constantly updating and maintaining numerous spatial databases to meet the needs of departments, boards, committees, professionals and citizens, while also expanding the information available in a simple and economical approach.
Highway and Grounds Division
● Road Maintenance
○ Pavement reclamation, asphalt overlays, chip seal, crack seal, infrared heat treatment, and patching.
● Sidewalks
○ Repair existing sidewalks and add new sidewalks where needed.
Parks and Tree Division
● Grounds, Parks & Trees
○ Plant trees, maintain public shade trees, cut grass at ball fields, buildings, and cemetery and cut, prune, and trim shrubs and maintain landscaping around schools, municipal buildings and the Town Common, as well as landscaped areas within the public right-of-way.
Central Motors Division
● Central Motors
○ Maintenance of approximately 170 Town vehicles, including DPW (84), Facilities, Inspection and Board of Health (11), Animal Control (2), Police (35), School (16), and Fire (22). Central Motors also maintains trailers (42) as well as equipment such as weed wackers, lawn mowers, chain saws, snow blowers, snow plows and sanders.
Snow and Ice Division
● Snow Operations
○ Snow Removal and Sanding Operations of Roadways, Schools, and Public Buildings.
Recycling Division
● Beaver Street Recycling Center
○ Operation of a Recycling Center 3.5 days a week that provides excellent customer service and meets all DEP regulations.
Street Lighting Division
● Street Lighting
○ Repair and maintain street lights throughout town.
Staffing
The Department of Public Works has 57.3 full-time equivalents (FTEs) split across multiple budgets. The total staffing includes:
● Management & Administration: 12 full-time
● Engineering/GIS Staff: 4 full-time
● Administrative Support: 3 full-time, 1 part-time
● Highway Division Laborers: 8 full-time
● Grounds Division Laborers: 6 full-time
● Water Division Laborers: 11 full-time
● Sewer Division Laborers: 5 full-time
● Stormwater Division Laborers: 3 full-time
● Central Motors Laborers: 3 full-time
● Recycling Center Staff: 4 part-time
● Seasonal/Summer Help: 15 full-time (May-Aug., not included in total FTE’s)
The salary costs for the Director, Managers and Administrative Staff are shared between the DPW General Fund and the various Enterprise funds. The DPW General Fund pays for 22.65 FTEs.
● Management & Administration: 2.9
● Engineering/GIS Staff: 0.25
● Administrative Support: 0.7
● Highway Division Laborers: 8.0
● Grounds Division Laborers: 6.0
● Central Motors Laborers: 3.0
● Recycling Center Staff: 1.8
● Seasonal/Summer Help: 8.0 (May-Aug., not included in total FTE’s)
Strategic Initiatives & Accomplishments
● Provide exceptional and expedient customer service to every person who contacts the Public Works Department.
● Continue to develop and implement plans and oversight of all Public Works projects that meet safety concerns while ensuring protection of staff and residents.
● Maintain the Town’s assets, such as fields, Town Common and other public ways in the community with the most cost effective use of resources whether public or private.
● Continue to work on the stormwater challenge and funding of the requirements of the MS4 permit. Public Works continues to proactively work on this issue with the installation of rain gardens, improved road design and many other projects that help manage this costly endeavor going forward.
● Maintain excellence in snow and ice removal operations.
● Execute several miles of new water and roadway projects.
● Implement, evaluate and fund to the extent possible the Town’s 5-year Pavement Management Plan. The Town has $40 million in backlogged road work, and millions more required to maintain our parking lots and sidewalks.
● For the 2025 construction season (Spring FY26 through Fall FY26), DPW completed the following road preservation projects by investing approximately $1.9 million dollars from a combination of funding sources including Chapter 90 ($1.2 million) and the DPW operating budget ($700k for FY25 & FY26)
○ Asphalt Paving Overlay Project
■ Pond St. - from Eldon Drive to Partridge St.■ Washington St. and King St. - from Jefferson Rd. to I-495■ Grove St. - from Beaver St. to the Mine Brook Bridge
○ Rubber Chip Seal Surfacing Project
■ Charles River Drive neighborhood■ Wampanoag Drive and Concetta Way neighborhood■ Julie Dawn Dr. and Denise Dr. neighborhood■ Spring St. and Dom Lea Circle neighborhood
FY27 Requested Budget Highlights
The following is a list of recommended restored services for Public Works that have been very unpopular with many residents. However, with the winter draining the entire snow and ice budget, as well as the entire Snow and Ice Stabilization Fund, my revised FY27 budget in May and June will likely reflect a recommendation to reallocate these restorations into the snow and ice budget to prepare for next winter.
● Highway Department - $105,000 Increase
○ Police Details - $1,000○ Electricity for Traffic Signals - $5,000○ Sidewalk and Guardrail Maintenance - $50,000○ Sign and Post Maintenance - $5,000○ Street Line Painting and Vegetation Management. - $40,000○ Tools - $4,000
● Grounds Department - $90,000 Increase
○ Tree Trimming & Removal - $40,000○ Field Maintenance - $5,000○ Contracted Services Schools - $35,000○ Municipal Grounds Supplies - $5,000○ Supplies for School Grounds - $5,000
● Grounds Department - $41,000 Increase
○ Seasonal/Summer Help - $41,000
● Snow and Ice Removal - Level Funded
● Central Motors Department - $14,500 Increase
○ Communications Equip./Radios - ($10,000)○ Uniform Rental - $1,000○ Automotive Parts - $16,000○ Vehicle Tires/ Lubricants - $5,000○ Misc. Equipment - $1,000○ Safety Training Classes - $1,500
● Recycle Center Department - $9,000 Increase
○ Rigid Plastic Disposal/Removal - $4,000○ Mattress Disposal/Removal - $5,000
● Administration/ Engineering Department - Level Funded
● Street Lighting Department - $20,000 Increase
○ Electricity Costs - $15,000○ Repair of Street Lights - $5,000
As long as this section is, there is more including charts and tables in the PDF version https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vhO77vli_L4X_tabourXqVF7Ee6a4S5Y/view?usp=drive_link
For the full FY 2027 budget narrative - https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8912/FY27-Budget-Narrative-FINAL-1
The FY 2027 budget information can be found