In an effort to avoid a repeat of last year’s poor park and field maintenance, Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart and Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Bob O’Shea proposed hiring contractors for some of the work for fiscal 2023 at last week’s Finance Committee meeting. Faced with the reality of workers leaving the Department of Public Works over low wages and stalled contract negotiations, Kilhart told the committee he and O’Shea had already discussed maintenance alternatives for this coming season.
They suggested removing two seasonal workers from the DPW’s fiscal 2023 budget and hiring a private contractor instead. O’Shea said he would like a contractor to do weed-whacking around the athletic fields and landscaping at the beach and behind Harvard Park, but he would prefer that the DPW continue mowing and lining the athletic fields. Kilhart said he supported that plan and he had already submitted a warrant article for this spring’s Town Meeting to purchase a mower with a front mowing deck and multiple steering controls that allow for quick 180-degree turns, reducing mowing time.
The proposal would lower the DPW budget by $24,000, but the cost to Parks and Rec would likely be higher than that. O’Shea said he requested quotes from 12 area landscapers but received only one response. That response, from Three Seasons Landscape on Ayer Road in Harvard, quoted $48,000 for the landscaping and weed-whacking. Finance Committee member Eric Ward asked if O’Shea could resend the RFQ, and O’Shea agreed to do that.
Even if the Finance Committee agrees to the proposal, the fiscal 2023 budget would not take effect until July 1, so funding would not be available to hire a private contractor until then. O’Shea said work before that would either require DPW workers or the use of reserve funds to pay for a contractor.
As for his staffing shortage, Kilhart told the committee he lost a full-time groundskeeper and a cemetery worker, so even if he is able to hire new employees, it will take time to train them. The DPW is currently short four people in total, and hiring is not going well. Kilhart said he had two interviews scheduled earlier in the week, and neither person showed up. “Other guys are looking to leave too,” he added. “My stress level is extremely high.”
