Dedham Aims to Consolidate Town Building, School Maintenance Soon

Dedham town officials want to move forward quickly with the consolidating of school and town building maintenance that would combine the two and have it run by one individual, Town Administrator William Keegan said Wednesday evening.

The plan ideally cut costs and time within both the school system and for the town as a whole, while making it easier for both to share resources, Keegan said.

"We have an opportunity right now to get that done," the town administrator said. "It would form one facilities management operation for the entire town."

Two individuals have either left or are leaving each maintenance staff, and the town seeks to hire a new purchasing agent, who also would oversee maintenanc for school and town buildings, Keegan said.

"It will centralize two functions - facilities management and purchasing - townwide," Keegan said.

That person will need a facilities engineering background and know-how of Siemens' works, as the company finishes its overhaul fitting town buildings with energy-efficient systems, Keegan said.

While discussed for several years now, Keegan said, the plan is coming to fruition as the town searches for ways to make local government more efficient through the Solutions Task Force, a sub-committee created by the Board of Selectmen last year.

With current vacancies, Keegan said the town should move forward quickly with the transition, but it will have to renegotiate current contracts with existing maintenance personnel.

As Dedham begins to hire and possibly restructure its town maintenance department, it will try to shift into emphasizing preventative maintenance for all of its buildings.

"We need to upgrade our regular preventative maintenance," said Robin Reyes, Dedham's treasurer. "[Siemens said] there's been minimal maintenance done on some of the plumbing."

The plan has backing from the Solutions Task Force, which is evaluating several ways to increase transparency and efficiency in government with input from the community at-large.

"In theory, your savings are long-term because you are doing a better job of maintenance," said David Martin, chairman of the task force.