Panel: Unite departments in one DPW

Wayland officials say the town could provide services more efficiently and save tens of thousands of dollars if it consolidates six departments into one public works department.

The proposal by the DPW Assessment Committee to combine the town's Park & Recreation, Water, Highway, and Wastewater Management departments, along with the overseers of the landfill and the Septage Committee, is expected to eventually save $50,000 to $100,000 a year. Each of the departments currently has its own employees and its own management structure.

The selectmen are considering submitting the proposal to Town Meeting in the fall.

Dennis Berry, a former selectmen who heads the committee, said the departments cooperate well, but they could work together even better if there were one manager who could prioritize tasks and shift employees as necessary.

"We feel that would be a boon for the town in the long run," he said.

Joseph F. Nolan, selectmen chairman and a member of the assessment committee, called the proposed change "the right management model." He said it doesn't make sense for the departments to propose independent budgets.

"By consolidating them all, you've got one manager overseeing them all, and there's got to be efficiencies that can be made."

For example, he said, the town has four backhoes for four of the departments at a cost of about $125,000 each. If there were one public works department, perhaps the backhoes could be used more efficiently and the town could get by with two, he said. "That's real money over time."

Opposition to the proposal has centered on the argument that the current setup, in which each department is overseen by a separate board, is more responsive to the public.

But Nolan said reducing the number of boards would create more accountability. He said turnaround time would be faster because the department would be run by one manager, rather than by a group of boards that meet infrequently.

Berry said officials don't want to bring the proposal to voters until the fall so the town can debate the idea at length and his committee will have time to craft a plan for implementing the changes.

The proposal would affect employees of five unions and the town would have to negotiate with each of them. All the contracts expire June 30 and the town is to begin negotiations early next year.

Nolan said he doesn't expect that employees will be laid off as a result of the proposed restructuring. But he said that over time, as employees retire or leave for other jobs, some positions could be eliminated.

Under the proposal, a new board would be created to oversee the consolidated department.

The Board of Health would turn over its responsibilities for overseeing the landfill to the new board.

The Park and Recreation Commission would give up its park maintenance responsibilities. The Highway, Wastewater Management, and Water departments also would come under the purview of the new board.

Officials say they'll have to negotiate with Sudbury officials over the septage committee. A board with members from both towns oversees the facility that the two towns share.

Similar proposals have been rejected twice in the past, in the 1960s and in 1985.

A 2002 study of the town's government suggested Wayland is one of only a few towns its size in the state that doesn't have a public works department.