Publishers’ Note: While most of us were hunkered down as of March 16, 2020, the work of town government continued uninterrupted as the paid professionals and unpaid officials met via Zoom and even conducted hiring procedures for several positions. Here’s what they have to say about trying to start new jobs during COVID. We asked the same questions of all of them. This is the first in the series.

James Keast

Facilities Director – new position as approved by Town Meeting

When did you start in your job as Facilities Director?

I started on March 16, 2020, and later that evening the Select Board declared a Townwide Emergency and everything shut down.

What have the biggest challenges been during COVID?

The biggest challenge for me personally was kicking off a new role and a new function for the Town when everything and everyone was shut down. It was quite challenging to try and meet all of the Department Heads, understand their needs and fully survey the Town’s physical assets during the first six months of this job. Furthermore, moving forward with the goals and objectives outlined in my employment plan while also preparing the public building for use during Covid and was a significant challenge.

What do you see for opportunities in this job?

There are so many opportunities! Efficiency improvements, asset protection, leveraging bulk services, vendor accountability, grant funding, etc. However, most opportunities have one central theme, best financial value for the town.

By centralizing services like HVAC, janitorial, utilities, and public procurement, we can leverage the best benefit for the town without sacrificing quality. Bigger picture items like formal Capital Improvement planning with real time asset data and long term facility needs planning are some significant opportunities and what I consider to be a big component of this job.

What successes have you already enjoyed? What’s the good news?

When looking back over the past year I have had several successes. From a financial standpoint the town has saved $75K annually in negotiated municipal utility aggregation (even utilizing100% renewable electricity). Saved $53K associated with the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

I am also in the process of recouping $40K dollars of improper electrical usage by cell phone communication equipment on one of our water tanks. I have personally made several repairs to the Town’s buildings and systems that would have otherwise been contracted out. The savings associated with these are estimated to be $35K.

There have been several projects managed by me and are in various stages of completion. Some notable ones: Covid barrier installations and signage around town, 260 Woodland St site remediation, Pinecrest doors, snack shack and cupula replacement and repairs, Senior Center improvements (new floors, doors, painting, ceiling), Library improvements (flooring, paint, front facade, front steps, HVAC controls), Town Hall improvements (new doors, new floors in upper hall, window repairs, storm windows, septic system, painting, access control system), 9 Green St demolition, Wastewater Treatment Plant service provider bid and contract, 1750 Washington St stairway railings, ramps and HVAC replacements, DPW facility condition assessment and feasibility study RFP and lastly the research and procurement of a computerized maintenance management system to oversee Preventative Maintenance of the Town’s assets.

What keeps you awake at night now that things are normalizing – hopefully nothing!

There is nothing specific that keeps me up at night, unless there is a wild storm and the Town’s buildings lose power, especially in the winter. I was surprised to learn that most of the buildings do not have back up power to maintain critical systems like heat, security, lighting, etc. Significant property damage is likely if power were to fail on a cold winter’s night. The good news is that I am working to equip the Town’s buildings with back up power so I (and the rest of the taxpayers) can sleep better at night.

What message would you like to send to the community?

My family and I have lived in Holliston since 2005. We have four children who all went through our great school system. We love our little New England town and wish to preserve this place for future generations. I feel that in my role as Town Facility Director I am doing just that, preserving some physical pieces of our Town.

I often think about this past winter when the old wooden floor in the upper town had to be replaced.  I thought about the 1,000s and 1,000s of feet that stepped on that floor that was installed well over 100 years ago. All the dances, functions, graduations, elections, basketball games (yes this is true), plays, weddings you name it, it all took place on that floor. For just a snapshot in time, I am a curator of these spaces, but I am honored to be a small part of preserving Holliston’s history and keeping it a wonderful place for future generations.