Date: Thu 02-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

selectmen-highway-department

Full Text:

Selectmen Want To Hire Firm To Study Highway Dept.

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Is Newtown's highway department using the latest technology to fill pot holes?

Is there room for improvement in the way it is run? How can the department

become more cost-effective?

The Board of Selectmen plans to hire a firm to answer these and other

questions about the department. During the fall political campaign, Democratic

selectmen Herb Rosenthal and Joe Bojnowski reported hearing many concerns and

complaints from residents about the current condition of the town's Public

Works Department. People in town felt improvements were needed, according to

Mr Bojnowski.

"What we want to do is have the firm take a close look at all the workings of

the Public Works Department so we can better understand how we might be able

to improve things," Mr Bojnowski said.

After all, the selectman said, public works is the most visible department

because it maintains the roads we travel on every day. The management study

would review the operations and the overall management of the department. Mr

Rosenthal has expressed interest in restructuring the department, with the

possibility of consolidating the maintenance of all municipal and school

properties.

"Are the taxpayers getting the most bang for their maintenance and capital

buck? This is what we want to find out," Mr Bojnowski said.

The selectmen declined to release the name of the firm it plans to hire until

after next week's Board of Selectmen meeting. The firm was recommended by the

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). Part of its job will be to

compare the methods used in Newtown with those in other towns around the

state.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley was unavailable for comment this week.