Facilities Management Committee Brings Town Department Heads Together

By John Voket

In a morning meeting Tuesday, August 25, members of an ad hoc Legislative Council committee exploring the feasibility of merging all town facilities management into a single department gathered together managers of many of the departments involved for a free flowing discussion.

This followed individual sessions stretching back into the spring, during which the committee interviewed each of the representatives individually and at length.

What was originally scheduled as a tight and time sensitive meeting to specifically address either questions left unanswered the first time around, or to expand on incomplete answers that were previously provided, appeared to accomplish that and more.

At times, council members Paul Lundquist, Patricia Llodra, Jan Lee Brookes, and Daniel Amaral, and Board of Finance Liaison James Gaston, along with the two “citizen representatives,” LeReine Frampton and Robert Merola, just sat back and listened as department heads spoke among themselves about opportunities for better future collaboration, as well as the success of existing programs and practices.

Co-chair Lundquist said during opening remarks, that the committee clearly recognized there was a collegial system in place that was functioning quite well, with apparent, yet anecdotal evidence of taxpayer savings. Co-chair Llodra then assured the department heads — which included parks and recreation staff, technology department, school district, and public works representatives — that the committee had in no way predetermined an outcome.

“We are here to try and determine if there is a point in the future where greater efficiency can be both an economic and operational benefit,” Ms Llodra said, adding that it is the committee’s charge to make a full recommendation to the council.

The committee is planning to make that recommendation before municipal elections in November. All four committee members along with Mr Gaston are seeking reelection this fall, with Ms Llodra seeking the first selectman’s seat on the Republican ticket.

The committee first heard from Public Works Director Fred Hurley, Carl Samuelson, the town’s director of parks, and school district Facilities Manager Gino Faiella about how the current, somewhat informal system of sharing employees, equipment, supplies, and services works.

Mr Hurley explained that the system functions because of the constant dialog among department heads. He reiterated that each department involved in the informal cooperative offers specific expertise and equipment that can save other departments time and money, versus those departments employing outside contractors or renting equipment to complete specific tasks.

“This is not hit or miss,” he said. “Each department is aware of what the other can offer, and emergencies do come up all the time.”

On the other hand, Mr Hurley did say that on occasion, the kind of shared resources that may be required for a specific project can occasionally be anticipated two to three months in advance. He and Mr Samuelson agreed that while they can initiate calls between them when needed, that their staff members, “down to the lowest level,” are empowered to participate in decisions to call for out-of-department assistance if required.

“It’s a very reliable system,” Mr Samuelson said.

Ms Brookes then asked hypothetically if the system as it exists today would still remain functional if all the department heads at the table were suddenly “gone tomorrow.”

Mr Faiella said he believed that town department heads would continue to work together collegially and informally, even if present company was not in the mix. Mr Hurley added that such a system would likely continue because various department workers.

“If we had upper management that was obsessed with control, it would be an Achilles’ heel,” Mr Hurley said.

Responding to a question from Mr Gaston about any possible redundancies in equipment purchasing, Mr Samuelson assured the committee that only equipment that might be required for use at all times by any single department might be replicated, like in the case of dump trucks. He added that workers in all departments are also to an extent, cross-trained on other department’s equipment, an added benefit to all.

In responding to Mr Gaston’s question about accounting for true taxpayer costs, or taxpayer savings from sharing resources, Mr Hurley admitted that town departments “did not do a good job of communicating the taxpayer benefits” to such practices.

He also illustrated that without technology systems and policies that were adhered to by all town workers, it was time consuming and impractical to try and come back to past projects to try and determine applying actual costs to the various cooperating agencies.

“People question us regarding our efforts and our honesty of intent,” Mr Hurley said. “But I’m not interested in doing the documentation — it takes too much time and there is no benefit.”

He described a perfect system coordinating wireless handheld computer devices tied to a central work order, inventory, and accounting system, where the computers would receive and document all work.

“Electronic tracking would also remove all errors,” he said.

Scott Sharlow, who heads up the town’s technology department, said he is testing a system now with the public works department, in the hopes of getting a start-up system to improve efficiencies. And that the system could be integrated with all other town departments and the school district at some point in the near future.

“If Gino wants to do it, we could implement it tomorrow,” Mr Sharlow said. “Fred is up and running, and the parks and rec department is coming on.”

Mr Sharlow echoed Mr Hurley’s earlier concern, however, in that the system could only benefit the taxpayers, and be used to its fullest extent, “if the town invests in the proper training, and everyone is mandated to use it all the time.”

Mr Hurley also warned that data that could eventually be produced, taken on its own without qualification, could be misinterpreted.

Mr Lundquist said he understood the department heads were likely feeling the “political angle to all this.”

“We need to step back. Technology is not a magic pill,” he said. “There are a lot of changes as people begin touching this.”