JACKSON – Public Works Assistant Supervisor Shawn Bolinsky pushed for more staffing for his department during a recent Township Council meeting to the governing body during a question-and-answer session.
Bolinsky noted the town’s growth “with new neighbors, expanded roads, more parks and increased use in every corner of our shared space. With this growth comes a greater responsibility to ensure the town remains clean, safe and functional for every resident year-round.”
He noted however that “the department’s staffing has not kept pace with the town’s expansion.” The staff remains largely the same while the demand for services increase.
Bolinsky noted challenges when scheduling vacations and call outs when assigning work duties. “Do we prioritize fixing potholes or fixing storm drains until next week? I am requesting council to authorize the hiring of additional employees.”
“This a request not of luxury but one rooted in necessity,” the supervisor told the council during his prepared statement. “Hiring more staff will allow us to respond more quickly to public needs and to maintain higher standards and preserve in the assets we have invested in long term.”
Councilman Ken Bressi asked, “if you were to get more employees how would you match up with equipment. Do you have enough equipment now because you don’t have enough employees?”
Bolinsky said “equipment wise it has been getting better in the last couple of years. The administration has been approving multiple capital improvements over the last two years. There is always room for more additions. Right now, there is some equipment that sits stagnant because in order to stay on track with our leaf and bulk collections, it takes between 12 and 15 or five crews to keep up.”
Council President Jennifer Kuhn noted that the DPW also oversees, through a change made by council a few months ago, the Recreation Department and Senior Services Department – now classified as divisions. The council has been interviewing several department heads during meetings to get a better understanding of what they do and what they need.
“How many (more) employees do you feel you need to properly staff your department?” Councilman Giuseppe Palmeri asked Bolinsky.
The supervisor replied, “10 at minimum would be a good start. If we had 20 guys, we could do a lot better.” He said this would also allow the department to cut some outsourcing for work that can’t currently be done by the department such as grass cutting and snow removal. “It would save us money in the long run.”
Kuhn said snow removal work last year cost the town “a half a million dollars for outsourcing.”
Council Vice President Mordechai Burnstein asked for comparative cost figures for the outsourcing with neighboring towns and also called for data to gain a “better understanding of what staffing we currently have now.”
“We have 25 street and road employees, six mechanics, and 14 building and grounds employees,” Bolinsky replied. “On a given day I have about 19 guys and women to do what we have to do.”
Bolinsky noted that that the current staff of DPW is not as high as it once was. “We had more employees when I first started 19 years ago than we do now. We are going to outgrow our facility. I am already running out of space.”
“I have talked to the mayor and I think he agrees that we need a five-year plan. Our town is growing. We aren’t going to get everything overnight. We don’t have a blank checkbook but it is important to start developing a five-year plan,” the council vice president said.
Kuhn noted an invoice for bulk collection that one month alone was $46,980. Bolinsky said that was almost double.
“We are at the end of our bulk collection. We have a few senior communities to do next but it is significantly higher. That cost is also the transfer station and dumping fees as well. The bulk collection has been an issue. It is out of control. It is not meant for house cleanouts,” he added.
Kuhn asked about potential savings with more hires and “doing more in house, I think the longevity in the long run, we will save a lot of money.”
“On a five-year plan and you are talking 20 people, I want to make sure we see in there what you need to see them trained and with the proper licenses and stuff that has to accompany that,” Councilman Bressi commented. “We have people who can’t do things because they don’t have the proper licenses.”
“That is a great point,” Bolinsky responded. “We have an in-house CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) trainer. We had a handful of new hires over the past two years who just received their CDLs. We train in-house.”
Burnstein noted that “it is great hiring employees but we want to retain employees, is our pay comparable to other DPWs in surrounding towns?”
Bolinsky replied, “it has gotten better in the past contract that was just settled. I’d have to get back to you on that.”
