DPW charges schools for street sweeping, schools find somebody else to do it

By J.J. Huggins
Staff writer

June 30, 2008 06:00 am

—

METHUEN — School officials have learned the city's Department of Public Works isn't the cheapest option to have sand swept from school grounds, resparking the debate over whether the two should consolidate services.

The DPW quoted the schools $4,750 for the job of sweeping sand at the high school, central administration building, Marsh Grammar School, Timony Grammar School, Comprehensive Grammar School and Tenney Grammar School, according to documents provided by the School Department.

School officials went with a private company, Torromeo Industries of Methuen, which came in with a quote of $3,610 — about $1,140 cheaper than the DPW. They are expected to finish their work soon.

"We're trying to cut corners in all areas of the school district to make sure we have enough money to provide services to our students," School Committee Vice Chairman Gary Marcoux said. "If we keep on cutting $1,100 here and $1,100 there, it mounts up."

Mayor William Manzi said, "If that's what they want to do, that's fine." However, he said if they were really looking to save money, a consolidation of the city's and schools' grounds and maintenance operations could save some $200,000.

"We think that if you want to talk about the potential for monetary savings that we should talk about it more fully, and let's talk about a full consolidation of grounds and maintenance, and actually save real money," Manzi said.

Consolidating certain functions of the schools and city government has been a contentious issue that has sparked bickering among some School Committee members and city councilors lately.

Street sweeping isn't free. It costs money to pay workers, run the trucks and buy fuel, Manzi said.

The DPW budget includes money to pay for its crews to sweep city streets, but it doesn't include money for them to do schools. So, the DPW charges the schools for the work, Manzi said.

The mayor said although he doesn't object to the schools finding a contractor to sweep, it's "silly" to "cherry pick" certain items to go out to bid for.

"Either do it all yourself and the city won't provide any of those ancillary services, or allow us to do all of them and we'll consolidate and they won't have to worry about expenses like that," he said.

The DPW charged the schools $3,705 to sweep the schools last year. It charged $97.52 per hour for each building last year. This year, the department increased its rate to $125 per hour.