PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is already preparing for winter.

 

Mayor Daniel Bianchi said salt and sand as well as a new snowfighter has been ordered and new leadership will be working with staff and the contractors in the coming month to prepare for snow.

 

"We've got salt and sand deliveries coming in for the winter," Bianchi said. "We're going to have more ahead of time in hopes that we don't get in a crunch like we did last year. The Port of Albany was stressed to the max."

 

Coupled with a larger stockpile of sand and salt, the mayor said a new snowfighter will be added to the fleet. He hopes the vehicle will arrive sometime during the winter. 

 

"We are hoping to have that at some point before the winter is out. If not, we've got a whole new crew of guys working on vehicles," Bianchi said. "That'll be a big help." 

 

Snow removal will be overseen by new leadership as well. Though the mayor's office came under criticism for snow removal last year, in what was one of the city's worst seasons on record, the new personnel was more a matter of happenstance. 

 

In the summer, the city filled a long vacant commissioner of public works position with David Turocy, whose work was previously being handled by Commissioner of Public Utilities Bruce Collingwood, and hired a new highway superintendent, Daniel Ostrander, to replace Kevin Swail, who took a job in Lanesborough.

 

"Luckily we've been able to get [Turocy] from the eastern part of the state. He's familiar with municipal government. He's familiar with our weather in the Northeast. And he really likes Pittsfield and the Berkshires," Bianchi said. "Every time we'd go out to try to fill it, we'd get a couple people qualified but when we made the offer, then 'well, we'll take a job closer to home.'"

 

Turocy boasts some 20 years of experience with the last 11 being commissioner of public services in Newton. He was hired in August. Bianchi said he is confident in Turocy's ability to plan out snow removal, which is done by both contractors and city employees.

 

"We were fortunate where he was at a point where he was looking for a change. He was looking for a new opportunity," Bianchi said.

 

Meanwhile, Ostrander took over for Swail and has led the city through a massive amount of road repairs during the summer. 

 

"He has been doing an outstanding job and the guys are building up their skill sets," the mayor said.

 

Even the management of bills is expected to run smoother, Bianchi said. Last year the harsh winter caused a large deficit in the snow and ice budget. In trying to close the deficit, some invoices for other services were not processed. This summer, the City Council blasted Collingwood for letting the invoices fall behind in processing. 

 

"I think it became a personal issue with the public utilities commissioner. And honesty, yeah, you shouldn't have bills coming in that late," Bianchi said. "I think having additional manpower, having that additional manager is going to make things a lot more effective in expiating invoices. But you can't let people who have dealt in good faith with the city and supplied the city with goods and services, you can't just not pay them. That is just not right."

 

The city has made changes in policy to ensure processes run smoother, which includes moving the snow and ice budget line into its own budget. Director of Finance Susan Carmel told the City Council that the move would provide more internal controls because that budget can legally run a deficit and wouldn't be tied into other department budgets.

 

According to a memo Carmel sent to the City Council, the Finance Department is also backing up the due date for invoices when the year is closed. The exact date has yet to be determined.

 

"We'll be cutting off invoices sooner than later. Right now we have a cut off of June 30 and we're going to back that up to May 31 or June 1," Bianchi said.

 

Another contributing factor to the invoice situation was that Swail had moved and the department was in a period of transition. The roles of other supervisors are now expected to be more clearly outlined to make sure work is completed.

 

"I think it highlighted the need for more management supervision and it highlighted the need for review of routine invoices at the supervisory level," Bianchi said.

 

While there are changes being made to the process, the mayor said much of the City Council's concern was of the political nature.

 

"In an election year they are going to use anything for the political stage. Unfortunately, that is just the way it is," Bianchi said. "I think routinely we've gone through this in the past and it hasn't been an issue. It is logical to expect in an election year more attention is paid to it. But, that is only part of it. Another part of it is that it did go longer than it should have and we're going to tighten that up."