WHITMAN – The Department of Public Works is hoping history won’t repeat itself.
Eleven years after voters rejected an $8 million debt exclusion to fund the design and construction of a new DPW building, the town is trying again – with a warrant article and ballot question seeking to fund a build a “complete facility, including administration space,” which was not part of the last proposal.
The exact dollar figure being sought is not yet available.
The DPW hosted an open house on Saturday, April 1 – and are planning to hold a second one on Saturday, April 22, featuring a touch-a-truck area with DPW and Fire Department vehicles, for the kids; and free hot dogs and hamburgers.
The problems they pointed out are the same that confronted voters on May 7, 2012, plus a few more.
“The thing is, there’s no ‘no-cost’ solution for DPW building,” Parks and Highways Superintendent Bruce Martin, who said that, while there is not yet a firm number on the new building, it can’t be ignored as the problem it is.
“It’s out of code, it’s unsafe, all those things,” he said. “Every year we let it go [it adds up].”
Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said that, while there were open houses, video tours broadcast on cable access and newspaper stories, the difference this go-round is the advancing age of the building.
“No employee should be working in these conditions,” Salvucci said. “Will taxes go up for this building? Yes, of course, but the thing is this is something that the town needs.”
There are no shower facilities for water and sewer workers to clean up in after addressing situations such as main breaks, he noted. He also said it is needed to protect the town’s investment in expensive DPW trucks and heavy equipment.
“This is Whitman, we have water and sewer,” he said. “We’ve got the facilities of almost a city, as far as water and sewer are concerned.”
Now, as in 2012, visitors were able to see for themselves that the original green building, constructed in 1907, is inadequate for proper ventilation, has a poor electrical system, maintenance bays – featuring 1950s technology – are too small to work in and the building fails to meet OSHA standards. It is also the only shelter for expensive new equipment and is inadequate for that.
There was also a fire in the ceiling of the building several years ago, Martin added.
“It’s literally falling apart,” he said.
In 2012, then-Parks and Highways Superintendent Donnie Westhaver noted that the building was “built five years before the Titanic sank, to put it in perspective.”
It’s not getting any younger, DPW officials say.
“This building is smaller Martin said Saturday of the differences between the two plans. “We decided to bring the administration [offices] over just to get everybody in the same building and that building really isn’t accessible.”
The administration building was not included in the last building project proposal.
“We were actually going to get a lot more for the money,” Martin also said of the last plan. “Now, so many years later, we’re going smaller, but for similar money.”
Martin said the building subcommittee, which meets Wednesdays, has come up with the informational cards that can be handed out or mailed, and feature a QR code so people can view details of the project on a smartphone.
“How can we educate the residents?” he said has been the main discussion point. “Hopefully, we can get the message out. They’ll see all that or come down to one of the open houses and see what we’re working with here.”
The 2012 debt exclusion lost by 161 votes [293 in favor to 454 against] in a low-turnout election in which Westhaver faulted the turnout as much as the way the question was worded to voters.
“I think some people went to vote with Proposition 2 12 in mind,” he said. “People see that phrase and it scares them.” He argued that some explanation of what a yes or no voter would do was called for.
The $9 million project would have used $500,00 from stabilization; $200,000 in sewer enterprise and $200,000 in water enterprise funds in addition to the $8 million debt exclusion.
In the intervening years, additional soil borings and a site investigation were conducted [2017] to better understand soil conditions at the site. An initial foundation design and concept sketches for a new facility were created [2020] and a “shovel-ready” project passed at Town Meeting last year ad Construction Monitoring Services was retained as Owner Project Manager (OPM) in August and Helene Karl Architects was engaged to design the new facility in November.
The DPW Building Committee has voted to move forward with a concept that includes a complete facility, including administration space this year.