WHITMAN – Facilities Manager Todd DeCouto asked the Select Board on Tuesday, Feb. 7 to consider hiring an additional full-time maintenance person for town buildings, as he described an stutter-step approach to the maintenance work in town during the years he has worked there while other town departments are experiencing custodial and maintenance needs as well.
“I can talk about how maintenance has started to warp since I started about 15 years ago to where we are today,” DeCouto said. “It’s been a big change.
His responsibilities when he began working for the town were to maintain Town Hall, including cleaning and snow removal. At that time, there were also part-time maintenance workers at the library, Police Station and the Council on Aging. After three years, those positions were eliminated, and the work combined under DeCouto’s job description.
A full-time maintenance person was hired about three years after that, which made his job a lot easier, he said, even as he still had responsibilities for some work in the other buildings.
“Then that dissolved and I went back to taking care of all the buildings,” he said.
An outside company was then hired for a couple of years, DeCouto outlined, as he remained the contact point for department heads.
“That dissolved, and then it fell on me, again,” he said about another three-year period during which he averaged about 60 hours per week, aided by a part-time associate on the weekends who helped with snow removal.
“Now, with the position that I’m in, the part-time maintenance associate went into the full-time union, but it’s a lot of buildings to cover for one person,” DeCouto said.
While the Police Department still has an outside company come in three days per week for the building that takes a minimum of 30 hours a week to clean and maintain, DeCouto said his job is still difficult.
“It’s definitely not a want, it’s an absolute need,” he said of his request for another worker. “I know money’s tight, but it’s definitely something we do need.”
He said a full-time hire at-will person could fill the need, as well, doing custodial work at the library – which is a 20-to 25-hour job – and the Senior Center is another 10- to 15-hour job.
“To be truthful with you, we probably need a full-time and another part-time, but, I know that’s not going to happen,” DeCouto said.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked if there was anything in the library, police or senior center budgets from which funds could be used to fill the positions.
“If the Police Station is hiring outside, and we eliminate that and hire somebody for the town that would take care of the Police Station … does one offset the other?” he said. “I’m just asking.”
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon said part of the issue is control.
When they’ve needed DeCouto he’s been able to come in, but some of the outside vendors the department has used were also doing work at the DPW, Council on Aging, Library [and] no one was certain where they were or what they were doing, Hanlon said.
“When they came in a bare minimum and showed up, we were kind of thankful,” Hanlon said. After the pandemic the department determined they needed someone on a more permanent basis, which is what we did, and they’re working out fantastically, so I don’t want to change that as far as custodial service goes.”
Maintenance, on the other hand, is lacking, he said, saying that as the 11-year-old building ages, more maintenance needs will crop up. DeCouto said the station’s backup cooling system has failed a couple of times and needs to be replaced and the HVAC control systems need to be upgraded.
The town is barely keeping up with the needs of the library, Town Hall and senior center to “give them the attention they need – that they deserve.” DeCouto said.
Select Board member Justin Evans asked if the department’s outside cleaning service was CARES Act or ARPA-funded or built-in to the budget. Hanlon said the funds were built-in.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy said his department has been “single-handedly” keeping DeCouto busy during that week, as well as ongoing projects.
“The problem becomes, he’s only one person,” Clancy said. “I think Todd will agree, I can probably keep [him] busy 40-plus hours a week, just at my station.”
Chair Randy LaMattina asked DeCouto to put together a job description and salary ranges so the board could further discuss it at the next meeting. He said the market is tough for finding someone qualified to perform the maintenance work the town needs.
Interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam said the reality of the situation is that this is not a year to add [personnel].
“I can’t remember the last year that was a year to add,” he said. “But we’ll address the needs as best we can.”
“I just want to put it on the radar,” DeCouto said.
In other business, the board reached a consensus against supporting a request to place vending machines at Memorial Field to be used by teams that play there.
Lynam said he had some minor concerns centering on the installation of power and the potential for vandalism, which has been seen there from time to time. He reached out to DPW Parks and Highways Superintendent Bruce Martin for his opinion and he had similar concerns as well as the potential for empties being left strewn on the ground.
“I’m just not too sure it’s worth taking that step,” he said, noting most kids today bring their own reusable bottles of beverages to drink such as water or Gatoraid. “My observation is, it’s a solution looking for a problem. I rarely see kids unprepared for a couple hours of baseball.”
LaMattina said his concern was that the request was coming from a private vendor instead of one that would roll over funds into a town league. Lynam said his understanding was it would do that.
“It seems like a highly motivated guy who’s willing to do a lot of work to make something like this happen,” Select Board member Shawn Kain said. He said, while it doesn’t seem like exactly the right fit, with the right connection with an organization like WSBA, a solution could be reached.
Lynam said he has seen a lack of respect for facilities at Whitman Park.
“It’s sad,” he said. “I’m not adamantly opposed to it, I’m just not sure it’s a good idea.”
Hanlon said town security cameras can provide a limited view of the area.