3/25/19 Caucus

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – Department of Public Works Director Frank Hoffman appeared before the Council to give an overview of what cuts were made to help bring the budget down. “Some of our line cuts totaled $9,484. We budgeted the solid waste for $1.5 million and we funded it for $1.3 million. In the past, we had profits for recycling. That has been reversed. Building and Grounds were cut by $274,684. Overtime has been reduced by $88,000. The only items that can be cut further would be for Buildings and Grounds. I’m monitoring the overtime and work schedules will have to change. We have less people working during the week because we need more people to work on the bulk disposable pickups. We may have to increase what we charge for that now. We operated at a loss. We may have to charge people for yard pickups. Buildings and Grounds were reduced by $16,000. Once a week garbage collection will save $137,000 in overtime. We had very limited overtime in the past because of seasonal workers.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry then spoke up. “I can understand charging people who are cleaning out a whole house, but not people with small bulk pickups.”

Hoffman then went on to explain he was talking about people who do this several times a week. 

Councilman Helmin Caba then asked if DPW could keep track of those who have multiple houses in town that don’t live here but are constantly tossing out bulk items.”

Irizarry then suggested, “Perhaps we can change the ordinance to impose a fee to apply to people who take advantage (who throw out a lot of garbage and don’t pay for it).”

Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up, “I was surprised that when the budget was made out that the overtime on weekends is not a part of it.”

Hoffman went on to explain, “We’ve had 7 people who left unexpectedly, and I also requested seasonal workers.”

Pabon continued stating, “You have to tell us when you need help before we have to do increases in your department. We’re a poor community and we have to let people know we can’t afford some of these additional services. People will not be able to retire in Perth Amboy. Even rentwise, it’s getting ridiculous.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda questioned, “How does the staff work?”

Hoffman explained, “Per the Sanitation Union Contract, there are assigned routes and each worker helps each other to finish their routes and then they go home. Sometimes, they go out between 10 hours – 12 hours. Most people put out their garbage on Mondays and Tuesdays. The average worker works 35 hours a week. The trucks have to be at the dump between 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. The workers do not take long breaks or long lunches. We make more stops than most of the surrounding towns in our areas. The trash pickup depends on what’s best for our community. More rubbish has been picked up, which means there are more residents.”

Hoffman was asked a question regarding a contract which was given out to a company for maintenance and clean up. They wanted to know who provides the cleaning supplies. Hoffman replied, “We (the DPW) do.” Hoffman continued, “Regarding the parks, the budget was cut from $150,000 to $120,000. Some of these items were maintenance which includes the grass, weed control, and irrigation. Line items for education and training were cut by $1,000. The classes included management that was through Rutgers University. This year, we have no money to send people to the League of Municipalities. When we went in the past, we would go to the training classes there.”

Fire Chief Ed Mullen came up next to discuss the Fire Department’s budget. “In the past few years, we had a budget of $266,000 which was $20,000 more than we had in 2017. Then it went down to $220,000 in 2018. Now, for this year, the final cut is down to $194,000. We cancelled the requisition for two new hirees. Buckeye is helping with the expense of new communications equipment. We had 500 more incidents in 2018. We have items listed in the budget as to what duties each shift performs. We reduced overtime by $40,000 for this budget. In the past we had fire helmets that were distributed to children during Fire Prevention Week. We took over the Fire Prevention Program last year to increase revenue. The inspections are done in the field. The information can be emailed back to the Department. Narcan is being carried by the Police, Fire, and EMT’s.”