Public Works: 'Cuts go too deep'

By APRIL GUILMET
Union Leader Correspondent
LONDONDERRY -- With upwards of $85,000 in cuts proposed from the town’s Public Works budget in the coming fiscal year, Public Works Director Janusz Czyzowski implored residents Monday night to consider the cut a temporary one.
During the Jan. 17 Town Council meeting, the council and Budget Committee continued the public budget hearings that began Jan. 3.
At $3,260,101, Londonderry’s current public works budget is higher than the $3,135,841 proposed for the coming fiscal year.
Czyzowski said he learned early yesterday of the additional budget cuts, which would affect the town’s highway division.
“Next year we can’t survive with these cuts and operate,” he said Monday night, though he also noted that he understood such cuts could be needed this year considering the current economic climate. 
During the meeting’s public comment segment, resident Pauline Caron asked why the additional cuts were necessary. 
Town Manager David Caron noted that additional savings the town had hoped for from combining police and fire dispatching services wasn’t feasible next year because at $235,000, the transition would be too expensive to implement. An additional $1 million bond for road reconstruction also sits on the table for voters’ consideration. 
Later, resident Martin Srugis, who serves on the town’s Solid Waste Committee, emphasized the need for more residents to recycle, which could result in additional savings for the town’s solid waste budget. 
This year’s solid waste budget, which completes the departmental Public Works budget, is set at $1,844,556. The budget for the coming fiscal year is set at $1,899,790. 
Czyzowski attributed the increase to anticipated growth in town, though he noted there were no changes expected in how Londonderry collects and disposes of its trash. 
However, getting residents to recycle more could result in savings, Srugis noted, considering the town pays around $70 for each ton of trash disposed of. 
“Some people don’t recycle at all. This is something everyone in town can do to cut down on the town’s disposal fees,” he said. 
The town’s final budget public hearing will be on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Moose Hill Council Chambers at Town Hall.