A Sunday tour of Templeton Highway Department;
Sometime ago on this blog, Dave Smart posted I should visit the Templeton Highway dept. to have a look at the equipment. So on Sunday, May 31, 2015, I stopped by and had a look. I found the attachment frames on some snow plows rusted and unpainted, dump truck bodies rusted, rims on trucks rusted, fuel tanks rusted, under body spinner ready to fall off on the newest truck, a 2007. A check of the two sander bodies hanging out back, I found no sign of recent greasing which indicates the sanders were just hung up for the summer with little or no maintenance. The auger chains not oiled and one sander still had sand on it from the winter. This was found with a ten minute stop and these things indicate a real lack of effort to take care of equipment bought with other peoples money. During recent selectmen meetings, it was stated that Templeton Highway spent 100 thousand dollars on maintenance. Apparently there is no money for some paint and a little labor, such as needle scaling or wire brushing. There is a nice loader parked out back next to the two sanders, perhaps that could be sold for some paint.
Jeff Bennett
Paul working for you.
Jeff I also saw the deplorable condition of our town equipment last week while at the animal shelter. The yard is awful I thought we had a grader. The snow equipment looks like it was dropped after the last storm and forgotten till November.then we can rebuild it.Using the 100,000 from maintenance.
ReplyDeleteFor the record Jeff and Mike. I would say we had a large amount of snow and it lasted later before the melt. When you look around the highway yard and check out the equipment one has to concider the crew size and the tasks they have to do. The amount of time they have to do snow removal,sweeping and when we have good weather we sweep as fast and as much as we can to get the roads safe for motorists.Without poor weather we have less time inside for the the fleet issues we have.
ReplyDeleteEndless issues i might add. If we sold the loader out back with a blown motor the funds would go to the general fund jeff. I think you know that.The sander not clean and lubed like you think was and was put back in as a late storm had us out doing the job we should have been done with, also jeff you knew that. That sander was washed out inside and soon would be cleaned and lubed.It was used 1 time and rehung after lube had just been done before the one use. Pick Pick Pick as you may. Tell the people about the fact we descale and wire brush the antiques as we have the time to. We have not had the time to do the whole fleet. We now are full swing and have been in sweep mode. All other duties like picking up dead pets the Animal control won't keep us from doing highway duties. Dig prison cells,fill the cell,dig the cell,fill again and hang shades at town hall. Clean our own area yard for a better work area for the department. Move furniture and tasks unrelated to a highway crew or normal duties. All without any complaints from the crew or management whatever the town needs we do.So if you look around and see our work not complete it could be we as a smaller crew have less people to to more with what we have to do it with. Yes the spinner is loose and we know it and it is on the very long list for the one town mechanic to repair for next season. Plows also get paint when the time allows for those projects like descale and we are putting the finishing touches on the old high school truck we got to replace one of the other trucks that failed and are scrap. Did you look behind the sand pile at the row of failed equipment? You should and it's like i told you so.
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DeleteIf there is a real lack of effort Jeff like you state how do the trucks and equipment last so long?
ReplyDeleteThe truck i drive the 1984 mack is in need of a frame replace and body we need to purchase also.
Mike the grader does not work on tar. We work on the snow equipment when time allows or weather is bad and were inside to do it. Equipment repairs are done on the equipment we are using first and equipment not in use last. We would not spend time on a sander spinner and delay sweeping. The way time is spent and schedules are set up are not always what looks good but our goal is the town as a whole. The complete town and all but dirt roads get a sweeping ASAP. Common areas are cleaned by the combined effort of Cemetery and Highway along with volenteers like Jim Whealan who the Selectmen forgot or didn't even know to thank. Thank you Jim for your help. The town as a whole needs more from the highway crew than the work we need to do on the equipment that has lasted so long already. Are the roads cleaner and drains cleared? Do people think the paint on a plow is more important now or can the paint waite till time permits. The time to get the basic duties done is used effectively
as the town as a whole permits us. I think we should tar the highway barn area and purchase equipment with chapter 90 funds thats one of the reasons we get the funds. To serve the town as a whole. One needs to look at the whole picture to understand what your looking at.
No Dave, I do not know. I have pointed out the obvious and most of it is called planning, time management. How would the roads be unsafe with sand on them with most if not all is at the curb anyways. I went out on last storm as well which is why I don't wash until May 1 when I am pretty sure the snow is done. I watch things like the weather. You fix the spinner now so you do not have to worry about it later. You set a schedule to paint and you put it on town web site, highway is doing end of year maintenance on your equipment and in one week, we will begin sweeping. You have to remember, people drive by and see rust and their conclusion is they don't take care of the equipment. If a truck needs a frame repair I hope it is dead lined until safe to drive. Basic maintenance was not done at end of winter season, period. A department head can go to selectmen and give them a schedule, such as we will be doing end of winter maintenance for such and such a period of time. I don't think anyone would complain about that, in fact they would probably be glad to see it, as share holders, they would probably appreciate it. good night.
ReplyDeletei am so glad we do not do sanding and plowing for the state anymore at work !! during the winter season we are constantly washing the sanders out thru the season they got washed at least once a week and at the end of the season we would wash and lube everything before they were parked for the summer and every three or four years they were blasted and painted during the summer and those two sanders lasted a long time !!
ReplyDeletesorry huffnpuff you know the rules!
ReplyDeletemike 710 pm email me at smart@nii.net for ok to comment
I need a return email to contact you for clearance for your protection please
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Deleteglad to see the give and take on this blog, again. it has gone down hill in the last few years. maybe we can get more ideas from different people again!!!! IF they are willing to tell us whos ideas we are reading!!
ReplyDeletemike 710 email me at smart@nii.net please for clearance.
ReplyDeleteThanks mike.
ReplyDeleteBrad
ReplyDeleteIF they are willing to tell us whos ideas we are reading!!
And here in lies the problem Brad. When we don't know who posts the comment is it fair to the people who's name they are posting it under. In the past this blog has been used as tool to discredit others who did not post the comment under others names. In all fairness this is the reason for the identification to be the way it now is.
If people want to know who posts a comment just ask and i will tell the viewers,unless i don't know.
If we all sign it with a email at the end that would allow all to post and be a return to the past as free speech as a blog can be.
David Smart email smart@nii.net for any questions you may have.