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WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Residents and some City Council members in Worcester said they are concerned that the city is not handling snow removal as well as it should.
“This has been a constant, constant, issue,” said one resident. “I should not have to come here again or call again to have my street cleared.”
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, City Manager Eric Batista said their biggest challenge is a lack of manpower.
“When we talk about the overall DPW challenges it’s been staffing. Staffing is the number one issue when it comes to operations, not just in the city, but across the state,” said Batista. “You look at MassDOT, you will look at any other community — staffing, becomes a number one issue in terms of capacity.”
Batista said the Department of Public Works (DPW) wants increased stipends and overtime pay for their labor force to incentivize employees to work the overnight hours that are often required.
“We’re due for a pretty big storm one of these days and if we’re not doing well with two and three inches I can’t imagine what we’re gonna do with a foot plus,” said Worcester Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman.
City officials said one change expected as soon as this weekend is the use of brine on roads.
The city has been using just salt to pre-treat roads in recent years instead of the mix. Staff have spent the week training to implement a new brine system.
“The men and women of DPW are dedicated. They want the help too,” said Worcester City Councilor Tony Economou. “They’re the ones who on Saturday or Sunday are getting phone calls from their inspectors or their superiors, ‘I need you to run up there.’ They want to be able to do a superior job as we all want them to do as well.”
City councilors requested that the DPW send them a report about how their staff managed last weekend’s storm.
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