A “temporary” office trailer has been in use at the public utilities yard on Chestnut Street for 20 years and is now “separating and shifting,” a report says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A detailed review of Red Bank’s public utilities department found unsafe vehicles, inadequate staffing, facilities in need of upgrades and numerous other deficiencies, redbankgreen has learned.
The 14-page report, by former interim director Gary Watson Sr., includes a recommended boost in staffing to improve dealings with residents, who often can’t get answers to their inquiries, he wrote.
Gary Watson Sr. at a ceremony at the Senior Center earlier this month. Below, a Google Maps satellite view of the public works yard on Chestnut Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Watson, a retired deputy police chief who later led the utilities department for a dozen years through 2015, came out of retirement in January to serve as interim department director following the ouster of his successor, Cliff Keen.
With Watson’s contract up this month, the council elevated 15-year employee Terrence Walton to director.
At the April 12 council meeting, when Watson’s report was first publicly mentioned, Councilmember Ed Zipprich, chairman of the council’s public utilities committee, said it identified “inefficiencies currently found in the department,” many of which “were a result of little or no management and unsuitable employees tasked with leadership duties they were not capable of performing over the past several years.”
Among the report’s findings: “very limited training or direction in work expectation and many employees simply riding around aimlessly,” it says. “A clear lack of leadership at the top.”
But the wide-ranging report also identifies unsafe vehicles; understaffing in the event of a snow emergency, and other shortcomings.
There’s even a new tree-pruning bucket truck that no employees are certified to work in, Watson wrote.
Some excerpts:
• Within the fleet of heavy-duty trucks, pickups, sweepers and more, Watson identified 48 vehicles greater than five years old and four less than five years old. “After inspection of some of the vehicles I have found unsafe conditions, high mileage, poor maintenance and invalid registration and Insurance documentation,” he wrote.
Watson said he also found “outdated, unsafe & poorly maintained vehicles which do not comply with safety regulations or standards. Doors that wouldn’t secure, non-working wipers, lights, seats with springs exposed and an entire fleet that were filthy both inside and out.”
• Daily scheduled responsibilities – including the maintenance of buildings and parks, and seasonal duties such as brush collection and hydrant flushing – “are often delayed due to the frequent staff shortages,” Watson wrote.
He recommended that five employees be hired this year and in the first six months of 2024 to boost department employment to 30 workers, the “minimum number needed to perform the tasks required of this department and creating an efficient and safe work environment for all employees.”
• “The most significant failure in the office is the contact and response to the public,” he wrote. “Residents who visit the office are unable to obtain the information requested or the telephone calls from residents that go unanswered if the one office staff member is not working on that day or, not at their desk at that moment. Historically this has never been a one-person office and requires at least two personnel, one Administrative Assistant for the Director and one Receptionist to handle calls, walk-ins and
filing.
• The administrative office at 75 Chestnut Street is a trailer purchased in 2003 with an expected lifespan of five years.
The building, which also houses an employee locker room, “is now separating, shifting and in need of replacement,” Watson wrote. It is “in very poor condition and is not a healthy environment for the staff.”
• Last year, the report says, the department purchased a 75-foot bucket vehicle to assist in tree pruning and removal, but “currently there are no employees holding the necessary skills or certifications to operate this vehicle,” Watson wrote. “Without the proper staff training and equipment, it’s a very dangerous tool that puts the Borough at a high level of liability.”
With two employees who have tree-trimming skills enrolled in an arborist program that began this month, Watson recommends the borough in April 2023 eliminate the potential risk “in its entirety.”
• The department’s ability to handle a snowfall of more than 12 inches is “significantly compromised” by lack of both staff and equipment, Watson wrote.
“To somewhat address this concern, we immediately purchased four sidewalk clearing heavy duty snow removal machines that will also sweep large areas like parks and ballfields in the non-winter months,” the report says. In addition, four Ford F-250 pickup trucks with plows were purchased recently “to be utilized for daily tasks and snow events,” it says.
Calling in via Zoom during the April 12 council meeting, Watson sought to cast the report in an optimistic light.
“If you don’t really read it, it could be, ‘oh my goodness, this is not good.’ That’s not what we’re saying,” Watson continued. “The department is a good department, and they will do well as long as they have strong leadership, and I think Mr. Walton is the right guy for the job.”
Here’s the full report: Red Bank Public Utilities Management Plan 2023
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