WestfordMA DPW Fri, Feb 19, 2010 3:11 PM
From: Valerie Wormell
To: Westford_MA Dept Heads WestfordMA DPW
Subject: Public Works Presentation
Good Afternoon,
A Public Works presentation dry run will be held Friday, February 26th at 10 am in Conference Room B at the Millennium building. The Town Department Heads are invited to attend.
The presentation will be about 95% complete at this time, covering the process, policies, initial investigations into cost savings potential, FY 11 implementation recommendation and 5 year timeline. After the presentation, questions, suggestions and critique will be gratefully accepted, so that we may complete the remaining 5%. The ad hoc Public Works Planning committee will also be attending. Please schedule one hour if you would like to participate.
To assuage some fears, we will not be recommending any changes to the current FY 11 budget.
A more formal presentation will be made to all Town Boards on Thursday, March 4th at 7 pm in the All Purpose Room.
regards,
Valerie Wormell
WestfordMA DPW Wed, Feb 10, 2010 6:59 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: ad hoc Public Works Planning meeting
All,
This is a reminder of our meeting on Thursday, February 11, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm in Conference Room B at the Millennium. The agenda consists of finalizing the draft policies, reviewing the PW (Public Works) vision and mission statements and brainstorming cost savings ideas to investigate and include in the FY 11 budget. We will also discuss our future schedule and status as a committee if we have time.
With forecasts of a winter northeaster on the news, I can't help but think of how safe Westford roads are in the winter. If we lived in another town, Thursdays's meeting might be canceled. Thank Chip and his crew [..]
Hope to see you all Thursday.
regards,
Val
WestfordMA DPW Fri, Feb 05, 2010 12:05 PM
From: Valerie Wormell
To: Westford_MA Dept Heads
Cc: WestfordMA DPW
Subject: 1st draft Public Works policies
Attachments: PublicWorkspolicydraft2:5:10.pdf 112K
Dear Town Department Heads,
Attached to this correspondence is a draft of the policies proposed by the ad hoc Public Works Planning Committee to address the concerns of Town Meeting, all boards and departments in moving to a Public Works model for service delivery. I am respectfully asking you take time between receipt and Wednesday, February 10 (close of business) to review the policies. Please email any questions, requests for clarification or concerns you may have from your first reading to dpw@westfordma.gov.
Your input will be used to:
amend the statements
add a paragraph explanation to each policy
shape the process
Your input will not become part of a formal public document.
Although I participated in the process, seeing the policies in print shows me where changes should be made. Focus on the policy statements in bold type. I am looking for your gut reaction. If you find one policy is problematic, let me know. If you have a question about a particular policy, please ask. Your input is valuable! Please feel free to share this within your department.
The final policies will be recommended to the Board of Selectmen for approval. These policies will guide all future steps in this program.
Thank you for your input and commitment.
Valerie Wormell
WestfordMA DPW Thu, Feb 04, 2010 8:03 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: ad hoc Public Works Planning Committee
Attachments: PWplanningminutes020310.pdf 48K
All,
Attached are the draft minutes from our 2/3/10 meeting for your review. As stated in the minutes, the remaining policies will be drafted and sent to Town staff to solicit questions about the drafts. The questions will guide the paragraph explanations for each policy; a step recommended by the committee for the final document. Questions will also assist the committee in determining final wording of each policy. My goal is to have the remaining policies drafted by Friday, 2/5/10, for your review.
The committee needs to check its policies versus existing Town policies. If you have familiarity with a policy document, would you please consider taking the lead, looking for consistency and being prepared to report to the committee at its next meeting. For example, as a member of the Comprehensive Master Plan Committee and I could take the lead in checking for consistency with that policy document. Other examples would be John C.'s work for the CMP or Capital Planning Committee or Bob P.'s knowledge of the Library policies and plans. You would not have to do this task alone, but could use your committee or board for additional assistance. Please email your commitment to the committee and thank you.
As Town Meeting approaches, the schedule is getting very tight. I recommend we try to meet again, Thursday 2/11 to finalize the policies. The goal is to present the final policy recommendations to the selectmen at their 2/23 meeting. Please let me know your availability for the 2/11 date. At this meeting we will also reaffirm our vision and mission statements and begin brainstorming cost savings opportunities to investigate in the future.
Thank you for all the hard work. More pieces are falling into place and I believe the end result will meet with Town Meeting's approval.
regards,
Val W.
Mark K.
---- Original Message -----
Message Sat, Jan 30, 2010 9:36 AM
Subject: ad hoc Public Works Planning Draft policies
Attachments: Attach0.html 4K
DPWpolicydraft.doc 36K
All,
Attached is the first draft of policies proposed to date to address problems and identify corrective actions for the Public Works project. This is not a final version, but rather a working document, so that we may see the policies written out and then decide if they work to solve the problems or concerns we've identified from the feedback summary. We have followed the policy development guidelines to the best of our word smithing ability. In some cases, stating a policy in one sentence was not possible and it needed to be broken down to make sure all thoughts were captured.
After policy development is complete, the Public Works Committee will be begin its review of the drafts, concluding with final recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. We will continue to add to this document as policies are developed. This is a starting point for discussion and a test to see if the proposed guidelines are working for our committee.
Discussion of this document will be added to a future committee agenda.
regards,
Valerie W.
Mark K.
Message Fri, Jan 29, 2010 3:48 PM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: ad hoc Public Works Planning Committee
Attachments: DPWplanningminutes012510.doc 26K
All,
The draft minutes from our 1/25 meeting are attached for review. I will be drafting the interim policies, discussed to date, over the weekend.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 2, at 7 p.m. Policy development will continue and we will check to see if the Vision and Mission statements are still applicable after taking a step back and looking at the policies.
regards,
Val
Message Fri, Jan 22, 2010 8:28 AM
Subject: ad hoc Public Works Planning Meeting
All,
An ad hoc Public Works Planning meeting will be held Monday, January 25, 2010 from 7 to 10 pm in Conference Room B of the Millennium building. Review of board, committee, commission and department feedback and policy development will continue. Background information is posted to the Town web site. All are welcome to attend.
Please note the committee name change.
The reasons for the change is that using the word "department" in the title suggests creating a new department or consolidation of existing departments. Preliminary analysis suggests that the Town Manager's proposal of consolidation into one department under a director can be cost justified, however Town Meeting did not support the initiative. Alternatives are being investigated and some appear promising without a sweeping consolidation, but rather an evolutionary merge of services over time, using current staff. The committee recommends a name change to promote clarity.
Hope all can attend.
regards,
Valerie Wormell
Mark Kost
Thu, Jan 14, 2010 7:17 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
To: Westford Planning Board
Subject: DPW planning
Dear Planning Board Members,
I was working on our feedback list when I came across a concern from the Planning Board. "Committees affected by change were not given a voice in the process." You are cordially invited to participate in the process or send a delegate who will represent you. Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 20, 2010 in Millennium Conference Room B. The Town website is being updated weekly which will allow you to track progress if you are unable to attend. The most recent correspondence sent to known participants is copied below. We hope to see you there.
Message Wed, Jan 13, 2010 7:36 AM
Subject: Ad Hoc DPW planning meeting
All,
I have reserved Conference Room B at Millennium on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. to continue our work on the DPW project. I understand that changing the day of the week of the meeting presents problems for some, but it also makes it possible for others to attend. At this early stage of the project, we are trying to accommodate the widest participation of stakeholders possible.
In the next two meetings, we will be drafting interim policies to guide Town officials, administration and staff, to clearly state how we would like the process to unfold. Feedback received from all boards, committees and commissions universally is that the Special Town Meeting presentation lacked specific cost savings. To address this feedback, our committee might recommend a policy statement, "No function or service will be consolidated without a thorough cost/benefit analysis", as an example.
In preparation for the meeting, the spreadsheet listing all stakeholder comments will be forwarded to you for review. Collecting all this data was the reason for the delay in meeting. Our staff liaison, John, has taken hundreds of comments and separated them into a manageable number of broad categories. This will help to focus our efforts. We will also send you policy statement examples. It is our goal to have this information to you by the end of this week.
Attendees may be asked to do some homework this time. As we draft policy, it is very important to check the consistency of our policy recommendations to Town guiding documents such as our Charter, bylaws and other policies. If you have particular familiarity with an existing policy document(s), please consider taking the lead in this task.
If you are unable to attend, your input is still valuable to us. Please do not hesitate to send it to us or to dpw@westfordma.gov.
regards,
Valerie Wormell
Message Wed, Jan 13, 2010 6:21 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: DPW Planning meeting
An Ad Hoc DPW Planning meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 7 to 10 pm in Conference Room B of the Millennium building. The next step in the plan is to develop interim policies to guide Town administration, future committees and departments in implementation strategies and budgeting. All are welcome to attend and participate.
New information is being added to the Town website weekly. Please check it often to track the project's progress.
Message Tue, Dec 29, 2009 10:11 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: DPW meeting notes
All,
[..] If you attended a committee meeting to hear concerns on forming a DPW, could you please forward them to us as soon as you are able? The notes can be in bullet form without complete sentences. John is putting all the notes in spreadsheet form so that it will be quite easy to identify commonalities. Thank you.
Compiling a report of all concerns will miss the Dec 31st deadline due to the fact that we were not able to meet with 2 major boards, Planning and School, during December. We are also planning to meet with several departments to hear additional concerns. These meetings and notes will be useful in forming interim DPW policies.
The next planning meeting is being tentatively scheduled for next week; most likely the 5th. We will finalize the mission statement and have a sense of where, as a community, we wish to go. Then we will begin work on interim policy. Mark is working on the business plan this coming month and John is gathering a great deal of information on preliminary cost saving ideas from various boards, assisting with the business plan and helping me put together a town survey to solicit additional feedback from residents.
[..],
Val
Message Wed, Dec 23, 2009 7:45 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: DPW planning - Mission Statement
Dear Westford Department Heads,
The ad hoc DPW planning committee met last night. Membership continues to grow and many residents are showing interest in seeing that this process is conducted properly. The Vision statement you viewed was adopted by consensus of those participating with a few grammatical changes. The committee proposes the following draft mission statement. As most of you know a vision statement defines a 10 year outlook whereas the mission statement defines the day-to-day operation.
Westford's ****** department is dedicated to delivering high quality operational services in a responsive and cost efficient manner in support of the Town's residents, boards, committees and commissions through a workforce that is highly motivated and empowered in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of all its infrastructure and assets.
Again, the department's name was purposely omitted because the committee felt that it could apply equally to any current Westford Department, whether today's Highway Department or a potential Department of Public Works. Please feel free to send comments or questions and we will do our best to respond.
Many have questioned why we are going through the exercise of creating a vision and mission statement. The answer is simple. Feedback received during Town Meeting and from meetings with various boards and committees said the past DPW proposal lacked vision. We are working toward satisfying that need.
Our list of departments to meet with includes: Parks, Recreation and Cemetery, Fire, Police, Library, Highway, Engineering and Water. If you would like to add your department, please send us an email. We will put together a schedule in early January.
Thank you for your support [..]
regards,
Valerie A. Wormell
selectman
Message Thu, Dec 17, 2009 7:30 AM
From: Valerie Wormell
Subject: Draft DPW Vision statement
All,
The draft DPW vision statement follows for your review. Please let me know if I have inadvertently left a participant off the distribution list.
Westford prides itself in its ability to provide superior community services to its residents. In order to continue public services far into the future in an ever changing fiscal environment, Westford recognizes the requirement to improve efficiencies and economies.
The ****** Department will provide Westford the highest quality and responsive municipal level of service in the most cost efficient and effective manner taking advantage of economies of scale across its infrastructure through proper utilization of assets, procurement, maintenance, application of new technologies and personnel.
I purposely left out the name of the future department because we should remain open to using the existing names until we finish our work. The final phrase lists the areas to address in the order the ad hoc committee decided, (to the best of my recollection).
Minutes and work sheets will be sent out shortly as well.
Thank you all for your hard work last week. This is an excellent start! Next Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009, 7 p.m., Millennium, we will finalize the statement and begin work on a mission statement. Hope to see you there.
regards,
Val Wormell
Mark Kost
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