Glen Rock has a new Department of Public Works Director, Greg Toro. BTN had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Toro about his goals for the DPW, and changes that he already has in place.
Toro grew up in Glen Rock and graduated in 1980 from GRHS. His interests in high school included architecture and engineering, and after high school he started his own construction business. Eventually, he went to college at Fairleigh Dickinson University, studying construction management and engineering technology with commercial computer-aided design.
Since then he has been working in engineering in Morris County before taking over as Glen Rock’s DPW Director following the retirement of former director Bob Tirserio. Toro said he is looking forward to working as a mentor and growing Glen Rock’s DPW.
What changes has he already put into place?
- Purchased a Leaf Claw to help leaf pick up. The new apparatus is safer on the roads because it is “single file,” meaning it fits within a single lane on a street, unlike what is being used currently in Glen Rock. It also can operate with a minimum crew of two people, and a maximum of four. The current apparatus needs a crew of six to eight.
- Rating the streets on their condition and their needs over the next three years. Streets should last 20-25 years before a repaving is needed. This is based on a Rutgers system to evaluate things like cracking and road draining.
- Started a mini-911 system for the on-call workers for snow removal. This includes calling the employees that are further out early so that they get here the same time as the locals.
- Working with the employees to create divisions of the DPW. This will give them a specific niche. These can include inspectors, recycling, project management etc.
What are his future goals?
- Looking at keeping things (road repair for example) in house
- Using more of his engineering experience here with different projects.
- Trying to make use of the trucks year round. How? by having them be able to change beds from a leaf vacuum system to salt, brining or a crack sealing kettle system
- Putting a brining system into place. This is a truck with a salt water brine in a tub and a sprinkler on back. This puts the brine down in ribbons 1-2 days pre snow storm – prevents precipitation from freezing and binding to the road.
- Crack Sealing system. This is a hot kettle of a tar like substance with a hot wand that would fill cracks and possible pot holes through out the year when needed.
- Creating a rating system for the vehicles to see where they are in terms of replacement and repair needs. Most DPW vehicles should last 10-15 years.
What can Glen Rockers do to help the DPW get there work done easier and more efficiently?
- Avoid parking in the streets during a snow event and do so minimally during leaf pickup days.
- Follow the schedule in the calendar for garbage / recycling pick up.
- Bundle / sort correctly
- Call the DPW office directly if you have concerns and questions: 201-670-3980.
Talking to several DPW employees, they all seem to agree that Toro is great at working with them as a team, and is open-minded to new ideas.
On Thursday night, following the snowstorm, Toro and Mayor Bruce Packer were on the 11 p.m. news talking about the cleanup process here in Glen Rock. Take a look.
