Mechanical DPW Garage project 5-2-16

What the Town Would Get for $5M in Improvements at the DPW Garage

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A Department of Public Works is one of any town’s “critical” departments — keeping streets cleared and passable for first responders and others after storms and other emergencies, and, year-round, maintaining crucial public services, a consultant remarked in a presentation to the Darien Board of Selectmen. The consultant, David Stein, a principal with Silver + Petrucelli, an architectural and engineering consulting firm, recommended about $5 million worth of renovations and some expansions of the DPW garage building, originally constructed in the early 1940s, that houses many of the vehicles and provides a workplace for many of the employees of the town DPW. (Maintenance employees for Darien Public Schools and the Parks & Recreation Department also work there, and equipment for those departments is stored there.)

Despite renovations over the decades, the garage building, located next to the town transfer station and recycling center, has a number of problems that reduce safety, make it harder for employees to work there and for the town to maintain its equipment there:

The sprinkler system is below standard. Water pools on the flat roof, which needs be improved. Employees, who can be working long hours during storms, don’t have anything more than a “makeshift bunk room” to wait in.

Gift Tree 2015

Darien DPW Christmas Tree Pickup Schedule

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(Originally published Dec. 27)

Here’s the pickup schedule for Christmas trees in Darien, as released by the town Department of Public Works:

THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

Christmas Trees must be at the curb by the first morning of the scheduled pick-up. Christmas Tree pick-up is conducted on public streets only. Residents are asked to refer to a Town map to determine their designated area for schedule. The schedule has been rotated from last year.

Town Hall

RTM Unanimously Approves Public Works Union Contract

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The Representative Town Meeting on Monday unanimously approved a three-year labor union contract for 30 Department of Public Works employees, raising wages a bit, capping future pensions and adopting a high-deductible for health insurance claims.

Costs for the current fiscal year — $90,000 — have already been factored into this year’s budget, RTM Public Works Committee Chairman Mark Adiletta said in a report to the full RTM. With savings in health insurance costs for the next fiscal year, the town will spend $40,000 more than the current fiscal year, he said. When health insurance changes take effect next year, it will save the town $20,000, Adiletta said. All other town labor unions, and the teachers union, have high-deductible health insurance plans, now, negotiated in previous contracts. According to Finance and Budget Committee Chairman James Palen, who also gave his committee’s report to the full RTM, changes to union members’ health insurance won’t go into effect until the next fiscal year (the last year of the contract) because health insurance enrollment has already closed.

Town Hall

Selectmen Endorse Public Works Union Contract: 2%, 2.5% and 2.5% Wage Increases

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A three-year contract already ratified by the Darien Public Works Employees’ Union was endorsed unanimously Monday by the Board of Selectmen. The contract, for which negotiations stretched so late that the first year of it has already passed, calls for a 2 percent wage increase for the 2014-2015 fiscal year and 2.5 percent wage increases for the next two fiscal years, ending June 30, 2017. There are 26 members in the union, most of whom are at the top step of the wage scale, W. Lee Palmer, the town director of human resources told selectmen at their regular board meeting on Monday. Town Administrator Kathleen Buch said the contract will cost the town about $90,000 in increased spending for wages and health insurance. Buch told the board she estimates the town should save roughly $40,000 in the 2016-2017 fiscal year in health insurance costs.

Paving Noroton Avenue Heights Road Darien

Noroton Ave/Heights Rd Intersection Closed for Part of Friday Morning for Paving

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The intersection of Noroton Avenue and Heights Road was closed to traffic at 10:30 a.m. Friday as Noroton Avenue was paved. The intersection of Noroton Avenue and Heights Road was closed to traffic at 10:30 a.m. Friday as Noroton Avenue was paved. The paving, scheduled by the Darien Department of Public Works, also caused detours on both streets. Noroton Avenue paving occurred between the street’s intersections with Heights Road and West Avenue. The top layer of asphalt has been stripped from Noroton Avenue between the Post Road and Heights Road in preparation of paving.

DPW Quarterly Report April to June 2015

Here’s Darien Department of Public Works’ Latest Quarterly Report

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Here’s the Darien Department of Public Works Quarterly report for the second quarter of 2015 (also the final quarter of the 2015 Fiscal Year):

Quarterly Report, 4th Quarter FY 15

April 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015

 Bulk Pickup Program. The Bulk Pickup Program (formerly known as “Spring Pickup”) was conducted this year between April 6th and June 10th. The bulk pickup program was conceived to allow residents the opportunity to dispose of large items that they may not be able to transport to the Darien Transfer Station on their own. DPW records indicate that there were 105 bulk pickup appointments this year (114 last season). Residents are limited to one appointment per season and must have items curbside on date of scheduled pickup.

Traffic cone

These Darien Streets Will Be Paved July 13-25

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The Darien Department of Public Works has announced its repaving schedule for 2015, with these streets or parts of streets to be paved from mid to late July. In addition to the list below, Walmsley Road is expected to be repaved after an Aquarion Water Co. line is replaced there, said Assistant Public Works Director Darren Oustafine. Here’s the announcement from the Darien Department of Public Works:
The Town of Darien paving program for the summer of 2015 is as follows [Darienite has added links to Google or Google Maps showing where each street is or what portions of the street will be paved]:

STREET NAME

FROM

TO

START MILLING

FINISH
PAVING

Harriett Lane

Tokekene Road

cul de sac

July 13

July 17

Harriett Lane East

Harriett Lane

cul de sac

July 13

July 17

Old Kings Highway South

Locust Hill Road

Tokeneke Road

July 13

July 21

Overbrook Lane

Mansfield Avenue

Brookside Road

July 14

July 22

Noroton Avenue

Post Road

Hecker Avenue

July 15

July 23

Noroton Avenue

Heights Road

West Avenue

July 16

July 23

Hollow Tree Ridge Road

Post Road

Red Cedar Drive

July 17

July 24

Miles Road

Hollow Tree Ridge

Hollow Tree Ridge

July 21

July 25

Country Club Road

Hoyt Street

cul de sac

July 21

July 25

Preparatory work will precede paving on all of the above roads.  Dates listed above include milling and paving. Road surfaces will have raised structures during these dates. Please avoid these roads if possible during these times or use extra caution if you must travel on these roads.  The above schedule is based on favorable weather conditions.  Emergency access will be available at all times.