Town Manager John Spear said expenditures for overtime in Waldoboro’s Public Works Dept. have been in line with the previous year’s budget.
Spear was responding to an inquiry that came as a result of questions from budget committee member John Higgins, at the Dec. 11 meeting of the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen.
Higgins claimed the department has spent 20 percent of its public works overtime budget to treat roads in advance of, and during recent storms.
Spear said Dec. 18 that Higgins was not correct in his characterization of the percentage of the budget spent.
“He indicated we spent 20 percent of Public Works overtime and it was more like 10 percent,” Spear said.
Spear said the overtime budget primarily pays for unscheduled winter storm work, such as applying pre-storm road treatments and plowing. Some overtime funds are used to cover vacation absences and unexpected needs at the transfer station.
“If people see a huge blizzard and 18 inches of snow it makes sense to them,” Spear said. He said sleet and rain and the changing temperatures that can lead to black ice often require more time-consuming treatment than may appear to be required.
The overtime budget for the current fiscal year is $59,212. Spear said that was in line with the amount budgeted for the previous year. The total spent on overtime for the year that ended June 30 was $40,000.
As of Dec. 2, the department has spent $6287 on overtime, compared to $5490 spent before Nov. 30, 2011.
“It’s virtually the same,” Spear said.
The public works department employs eight full-time workers, including Waldoboro Public Works Director John Daigle. It receives minor clerical support, approximately 100 hours per year, from the town office.
Spear said he trusts Daigle to use his best judgment as to what is needed to keep Waldoboro’s roads safe. Waldoboro has 103 miles of road. Of these, 16 miles are plowed by the state.
Spear said the public works department also maintains several parking lots, two public landings and a park-and-ride lot on Rt. 1.
“It [conditions] can be quite different in North Waldoboro from down on the Friendship line,” Spear said. He said early road treatment can save taxpayer dollars by preventing accidents.
Spear said the town has not received a phone call in the past seven years, complaining that there has been too much done to prepare for and respond to winter storms.
“We get plenty of calls for more during the big storms,” he said.
