I was pleased
to be included in the tour of our town owned facilities on Saturday
January 8, 2012. Along on the tour
was Town Manager Steve Eldridge, Councilors Steve Bickford, Gina Mason,
Lisa Ward, Fern Larochelle, and
Mark Lunt. Also on the tour was Don Fellows, along with me, as members of the Advisory
Board.
When at the Public
Works Department, I noticed the "new" piece of equipment recently
purchased to clear the town
sidewalks. This was voted on during the 2011/2012 budget meetings, to "save
money". The sidewalks would
be cleared by Public Works.
I asked Mr. Eldridge
how that was working out. Working out great! he said. The town purchased it
for the sum of $50,000,
and it will pay for itself in just a few years.
To recap: Town
sidewalks had been cleared by Mr. Morgan for many years. He used and
maintained his own equipment.
The sidewalks were always cleared in time for the students who walked to
school to walk safely,
using the sidewalks.
Overnight we
had a snowfall of at least 6 inches. As I write this it is 11:30 a.m. and
the sidewalks in
my area, School
Street, Lisbon Road, still have not been cleared. I don't know how many
others.
Students walking to
school had to walk in the streets. The mailcarrier has to walk in the
streets. There is a lady who
works at the Lisbon Falls Library, I often see walking to work. ALL had to walk in the
streets!
I called and spoke
with Darla at Public works. She said they were hoping school would be
canceled, but Superintendent
Green decided to not cancel.
They had a plow
go off the road this morning, thankfully no damage, but time was lost. And they
are
shorthanded due to a valued worker being
laid off due to budget cuts.
We have miles
and miles of roads in town to be plowed. There is equipment to be maintained.
Miles and miles
of sidewalks to be
cleared. All to be done with less. Less money. Less
workers.
Maybe Public Works
should be combined with the Police Department ! ! !
There would be no
lack of money or employees. Just a thought.
Now, I'm all for
saving money. But there is such a thing as being "penny wise and pound
foolish".
I wondered at the
time, how this was going to work out? Laying off people at Public
Works and
giving them more
work. At the same time giving 4 employees, department heads, $10,000 pay
increases.
COMMON SENSE GOES A
LONG WAY, BUT WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE IN THE TOWN OF
LISBON????
Dot
Fitzgerald
A Lisbon Concerned
Citizen
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