Kennedy: DPW needs long-term plan for equipment

LYNN – Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she is looking at ways the city can start buying new vehicles to replace aging and well-worn equipment, including Public Works Department trucks and heavy equipment.Kennedy said a $3 million purchase list for 32 new vehicles to modernize the DPW fleet needs to be scaled down and spread out over several years as the city replaces sanders, graders, heavy trucks and other equipment dating back to a 1962 grader still available for city service.”We will take the worst of the equipment and replace it,” she said.She said initial equipment purchases probably will begin next year but said city officials will review state purchasing laws to determine if used vehicles can be purchased sooner to replace worn-out equipment.Kennedy said Public Works should add equipment on a schedule similar to the one that has allowed the Fire Department to add a new vehicle every three years.”We need to start with a vehicle replacement budget,” Kennedy said Wednesday.Prior to voting to approve the city budget on June 18, City Council members criticized Kennedy for not meeting Public Works equipment and personnel needs. Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi called the department “sorely underfunded” and Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr called Public Works “obviously short handed.””We need more employees,” added Ward 2 Councilor William Trahant Jr.Acting Associate DPW Commissioner Lisa Nerich told councilors in June that Public Works hiring is not keeping pace with retirements and Kennedy said her city hiring priority is Public Works now that the city has added police officers and firefighters.She said Nerich wants to hire six Public Works employees and said initially funding for new hires will be included in the city spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2014.