Scope of Activity

The Public Works Department is responsible for snow plowing, building, paving, sanding, grading, and otherwise maintaining town roads in Mont Vernon. The Public Works Director is also responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the transfer station. The Department provides regular maintenance (mostly mowing) of parks, playgrounds, ball fields, and town buildings and is often contracted to mow the cemetery and school grounds as well.

The Public Works Department maintains 48 of the 54 miles of road in the town. Six miles are maintained by the state (Route 13). Approximately 33% of the roads are unpaved. A more detailed discussion of roads appears in the Transportation chapter.

Over the past ten years the Public Works Department staff has decreased by one full-time person while its responsibilities have increased considerably. In spite of the rising costs of materials and the addition of town roads, the Department's budget has risen only 5% since 1992. In-house staff have taken on work which was formerly done by contractors. This has resulted in savings for the town, but no margin for error for in-house equipment or staff.

Facilities

The status of the Fire Station building is described in detail in the Fire Protection section.

The Public Works Department needs more space to store equipment. Currently, one truck does not fit in the garage when the plow is attached. If the vehicle needs repair, the plow must first be removed in order to move it into the garage; this is an undesirable situation when repairs must be done quickly in bad weather.

Currently, the pick-up truck, grader, sweeper, rake and broom attachments are stored outside in all seasons due to lack of bay space, which subjects them to weather and potential vandalism (although vandalism has never been a problem). Dump trucks are moved outside in the summer to make room for mowers in the bays.

Gasoline and oil are stored along one wall of the fire station; this is a hazardous situation when repairs require the use of an acetylene torch at the nearby workbench.

Recommended characteristics of the new highway garage:

• Be able to fit the truck in the garage with the plow attached (50');
• 4-6 bays
• Have a well-lit area for repair work;
• Allow proper disposal of waste oil (double sediment holding tank);
• Allow good ventilation;
• Have a heated room for a desk, computer, and for eating lunch. It could possibly be heated by waste oil with a wood stove backup.
• Have a storage area for flammables.
• Have sanitary facilities, electricity and phone service;

A joint space-needs study for the fire and highway departments could determine the needs of both departments, the potential of the fire station, and possible location for a new highway garage. If the garage could be built on the transfer station lot, transfer station workers could share its sanitary facilities, but groundwater should be tested there first, and the building must not be located directly over the landfill area or problems may occur from land settling and gas escaping from the decaying trash. The town owns other lots adjacent to the transfer station which might be good sites for the garage.

There are no state standards for highway department facilities. The following table compares our department with that of nearby towns.

Public Works Facility Comparison

Source: Road Agents from Mont Vernon, Lyndeborough, Hollis, New Boston. Year 2000.

The Old Salt Shed is a 408 square-foot wood and cement block building located on Weston Hill Road near the transfer station. It is approximately 35 years old and was made for the purpose of storing salt, but it is now used only for storage of mowers in winter. When it was first built by fire department volunteers back in the 60s, it was a neat and attractive little building (for a garage), but the brush and trees around it have been allowed to get raggedy, and the building itself needs spiffing up. After a new highway garage is built, this building could be used as storage space for the recreation committee or it could be a "still good" shed - a place for recycling used but still useful items. Its position on the road is such that it would not cause a traffic problem if it were the spot for a public kiosk or an announcement sign. The beautification committee could be recruited to rejuvenate it and its immediate surroundings.

The New Salt Shed is a wooden unheated, 4-bay structure built in the early 1980s. It is located on Mason Road on the transfer station lot. Salt and sand/salt are stored in two open bays (1,065 square feet), and the two closed bays are used for the loader and general storage (976 square feet). The building is expected to last at least another 25 years. The gate facing Mason Road should be repaired within the next two years.

One of the PW Director's less pressing, but highly feasible, recommendations would be the updating of the Department's computer and its road maintenance software. These improvements could be accomplished without burdening the taxpayers; a local computer donor could be found, and the Nashua Regional Planning Commission provides Road Surface Management System software updates at no cost. These improvements would enable the PW Director to generate road life expectancy data and costs of road work, as well as ten-year plans for upkeep of equipment.

Equipment

An inventory of existing equipment and anticipated replacement dates are presented in Table II. The Department's current trucks are on a ten-year replacement program; leased and purchased in five-year cycles with funds from the Department's operating budget. A capital reserve account was initiated in 1998 for the purchase of replacing heavy equipment.

The new 1999 truck represents a considerable improvement to the safety of drivers in that the sanders are located in front of the rear wheels, allowing the truck to sand forwards or in reverse. Also it means drivers will no longer have to "back sand" (sand while driving in reverse) down Mason Road or Old Amherst Road, two particularly treacherous roads in icy conditions.

Public Works Department Equipment, 2000

Source: Mont Vernon Public Works Department

The Public Works Director reminds residents:

• To set mail boxes back two feet from pavement edge
• Do not push snow from driveways onto the road after the final cleanup
• Don't park on the road during storms.
• Be understanding about the length of time it takes to plow and treat the roads. We only have two sanders to treat all roads in town.

Staff

Public Works Personnel

Source: Mont Vernon Public Works Department

Some snow plowing is contracted in the winter and road paving is contracted in the summer. The truck purchased in 1989 enabled the elimination of one hired snow removal truck. That same year gravel-hauling shifted in-house and the town saw an immediate reduction in equipment rental costs. The savings were used to buy needed materials. Presently there are only two employees available to cover roads during snowstorms. It takes our two trucks as much as twelve hours to plow all the roads in a bad snowstorm; 5 hours to go over all with sand and salt.

Summary of Action Items