Public Works Seeks to Save by Sharing

The city has agreed to share public works equipment, vehicles and labor with New Providence and Chatham Borough in an effort that officials say will save all three municipalities money.

The Common Council unanimously voted July 14 to adopt a resolution authorizing an interlocal agreement with the aforementioned boroughs that 1st Ward Councilman Thomas Getzendanner characterizes as a “lending agreement at no cost.

“The goal is to not ever write a check in cash,” said Getzendanner, who chairs the council’s public works committee.

Instead, the three municipalities have completed inventory lists that allow each department to know what may be available in the neighboring communities, said James Johnson, New Providence’s director of public works. If Summit has a job requiring equipment that it doesn’t possess, a quick scan of the inventory list will tell public works employees if Chatham or New Providence has the necessary machinery. From there, a simple phone call can relieve the city of the need to purchase its own equipment.

Getzendanner said equipment such as sweepers, dump trucks, cherry pickers and the like can be shared among the three municipalities. Most recently, Summit borrowed a cement mixer from New Providence, Johnson said.  However, the neighborly spirit extends beyond the inventory lists, as other items not specifically included, such as a pick-up truck, could be lent out should there be a need, said Paul Cascais, Summit’s superintendent of public works.

Furthermore, the agreement allows the temporary transfer of “skilled labor” should machinery require certified operators. However, officials in the three municipalities say the provision will not affect staffing levels in their departments.

The municipalities will formally track equipment loaned and received under a system of credit hours, where each department essentially tallies who is getting what. However, Cascais emphasizes that the city will not be looking to “keep score.” Instead, the arrangement is based on need and availability.

 Cost savings

 Officials in the city, Chatham and New Providence all agreed that budgetary constraints and the high cost of capital equipment drove the need to formalize an arrangement that had existed as a “handshake agreement” for years, Johnson said.

“I can’t think of a better way to be more efficient,” Chatham Mayor V. Nelson Vaughan said.

As “budgets get tighter and tighter” the city has an obligation to look for cost savings, Cascais said.

“We’ve got to do our due diligence” to try to find savings, he said. “It’s an efficient way to save money.”

Summit Administrator Christopher J. Cotter said that it is “difficult to calculate” just how much taxpayer money may be saved, as the interlocal agreement allows the municipalities to save on future costs by not spending thousands of dollars on machinery that can be borrowed.

The city and boroughs also will save money when equipment needs to be replaced, as they have agreed to share the costs of new machinery. Cascais said the municipalities will share ownership over any items purchased collectively. In addition, the public works departments can join to bid on needed items, which Cascais believes also should lead to cost savings.

“Quantity brings better pricing,” he said.

 Future shared services?

The public works agreement is just the latest example of shared services in Summit, Chatham and New Providence, which all currently share personnel and services in other areas with a host of towns. Officials emphasized that it is a practice that should only increase in the future as municipalities work to balance their budgets while receiving flat or reduced state aid.

“It’s exactly what I think the state wants to see us do,” Vaughan said.

Summit’s arrangement likely will not end with Chatham and New Providence. Cascais said the city may forge similar agreements with Millburn and Chatham Township to share public works equipment while Getzendanner mentioned Springfield and Berkeley Heights as possibilities.

Officials also said that the interlocal agreement could one day lead to a regional agreement, perhaps linking departments in Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset counties.

“We’re looking to expand,” Cascais said.