Published in the March 9, 2021 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — Another major FY 2022 budget was approved last night as the Town Council gave its blessing to the DPW’s request for $6,506,335 to fund the Public Works Department next year. Also approved last night were several public works-related Town Meeting warrant articles.

Town Accountant Kevin Gill presented the budget numbers, with DPW Director Joe Conway joining the Zoom meeting to fill in details and answer questions.

Gill explained that the DPW’s budget request reflected an increase of $256,867. Of that, $195,805 was in personal services for negotiated contractual salary increases. Another $52,000 was added to restore some of what was cut from the DPW budget last year to adjust for COVID-19-related revenue shortfalls. Most other areas of the budget were level funded, Gill said.

Conway touched on some of budget details, noting an increase in electricity costs of $21,062 reflecting extra demand in both heating and air conditioning due to the need to adequately ventilate public buildings due to COVID and the expanded hours and occupancy of the Americal Civic Center during the pandemic.

Conway also discussed the Snow and Ice Budget, noting that the snow appropriation for FY 2022 has been level-funded and remains $850,000 for FY 2022. While the Town has benefitted from the past two seasons being milder than the average, he noted that it is important to remember that the cost for snow and ice removal in a typical winter season is estimated at $1,457,280.

Moving to the DPW enterprise departments Conway noted that he Water and Sewer budgets are structured to ensure that the town’s systems are functioning efficiently and remain well-maintained. The major changes for FY 2022, he said, were related to contractual obligations and the MWRA Sewer and Water Assessments.

He noted that the MWRA Sewer Assessment decreased by $58,668. The MWRA assessment represents 75.63 percent of the sewer budget. He pointed to personal services adjustments due to contractual agreements and overtime adjustments related to rate changes. Overall, the proposed Sewer Division budget for FY 2022 was $8,982,133, an increase of $20,480 over the current year.

Water Division budget increase was $245,741, for a total requested budget of $6,277,749 for FY 2022. The MWRA Water Assessment decrease was $35,576. The MWRA Water Assessment represents 45.36 percent of the budget.

After some discussion, the Town Council approved the DPW budget requests.

Conway presented two options last night for the FY2022 Refuse and Recycling Budget/Warrant Article. Option A represented a request for $2,284,011. Option B offered a slightly lower budget figure should the Town Council choose to include a bulk item fee for curbside pick-up. The recommendation under option B was $2,199,441. This number represented a budget offset based on a $20 bulk item fee similar to the current white good and CRT TV pickup fee.

Councilor Edward Dombroski opposed option B with its $20 bulk item fee, noting that Wakefield doesn’t offer other options for disposal of large items like some towns do. Ultimately, the Town Council chose Option B by a 5-2 vote, with councilors Ann Santos, Julie Smith-Galvin, Mehreen Butt, Jonathan Chines and Paul DiNocco in favor of Option B. Councilors Peter May and Dombroski favored Option A.

Conway noted that the town went out to bid last year for a new recycling contractor. Three companies submitted bids, with JRM offering the best deal. The five-year contract contains no penalties for contamination and no participation limit.

Conway also addressed the perennial question of weekly recycling pickup. He said that weekly pickup would increase recycling by 3-11 percent but would increase costs by 40-60 percent. However, to make things somewhat easier for residents, JRM had agreed to provide a cardboard drop-off container at the Nahant Street Yard Waste Facility where residents can leave discarded packaging materials.

There was some discussion of initiating a townwide composting program next year. Conway said that he had had productive discussions with Black Earth Composting about ways that it could work. He said that the DPW was able to get a grant to fund 200 composting starter kits for residents.

All departmental budgets are also scrutinized by the Finance Committee prior to going before the voters at the May 8 Annual Town Meeting.