Town considers departmental reorganization
The Town of Oyster Bay is considering changes to the town code in a number of areas, in an attempt to reorganize town government and maximize efficiency.
At the town board meeting on Feb. 8, the board held a number of hearings addressing the proposed changes that would consolidate certain departments within the town and reorganize the duties and functions of dissolved departments into those that remain.
“Many of these changes include the same duties and functions that already exist in the code,” said Karen Underwood, Oyster Bay Deputy Town Attorney. “They are being reorganized under the heading of housekeeping to improve the efficiency of the numerous functions of certain town departments.”
Most notably, the town board is weighing the decision to dissolve its highway department. If passed, the town would eliminate the highway department as a standalone department and roll it in under the supervision of the Department of Public Works.
“What's being proposed is a reorganization to bring about greater efficiencies so as to reorganize our departments with an eye towards saving money, bringing the focus on where we believe it needs to be in a more workable way,” Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said. “That brings those efficiencies to the services [we provide].”
By rolling the Department of Highway into public works, the town will not have to hire a new commissioner for a department that no longer exists, thus providing for a savings down the line, Saladino said.
“We have looked at the processes about how to create the best product and the best services, and what the plan is, is to bring [the highway department] into public works where we already have a commissioner and [take a] look at solid waste and recycling,” he said.
This proposed law and amendment to town code is the first in a series aimed at improving the efficiency and the provision of services to town residents and within town departments. Also being considered is adding a new sanitation department and replacing the division of sanitation and recycling collection that is currently part of public works. This division is being excised from public works and reorganized as a department, which will continue to manage sanitation collection operations and recycling collection programs. This department will also inspect, manage and control all municipal solid waste generated by the town’s solid waste disposal district, a function that is currently performed by the Department of Environmental Resources.
“Overall, this administration, working together with the town board has had an eye toward finding ways to bring more efficiencies, [and] bring our town to a more updated operation that better suits the needs of our residents, and better suits an efficient performance of those services,” Saladino said.
The sanitation department will have three divisions: administration sanitation, collection and recycling and the division of solid waste. Also included in the proposed law is language for managing the town landfill.
The landfill has been closed for years, and there is no plan to reopen it, according to Saladino. Despite being inactive, the town must still continue to adhere to state mandates for the reporting of and testing of the landfill.
“One of the major motivations for this is to put more focus on how we handle our solid waste, what our operations are, and to show the residents that we're 100 percent committed to full safety as it relates to sanitation [and] recycling,” Saladino said. “That provides a tremendous assurance to our residents, that things there are safe and are meeting all of the state's guidelines as to safety to the environment to the residents.”
