[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Bob,

This just came up during our round table discussion at Thursday’s meeting. Seems that the schools that have them put a few in and have had mixed results at best of them working. Some schools installed a couple of real ones in busy bathrooms and installed fake/dumby ones smaller bathrooms.

I’d say hold for now especially with Gov. Baker’s banning of product sales for next 4 months.

Hope to see you in Danvers,

Ken Wertz

MFAA Exec.Director

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Dependable, excellent, AND knowledgeable?? You can only pick 2!

I’m handcuffed to my controls company due to proprietary programming. If it’s outside your BMS I’ve had good luck with Cannistraro. Eric Taylor is my contact. etaylor@cannistraro.com. Luckily my background allows me to do a lot of the diagnosis and repairs. It took a lot of time, but I’ve also learned the programming of our BMS. It’s saved a lot of money and frustration. Good luck!

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement!

In all my previous employment I had the benefit of being surrounded by people that had the same knowledge base as I did. I was able to run issues by them and use their advice and opinions to help make decisions. I now work with educators. When I tell the principal the first check on the backflow failed I get a blank stare!

Luckily I work for a great district that’s very supportive and grateful. Like Arthur said, I’ve been learning the local politics and have lots of support from the townspeople.

I look forward to meeting everyone in person!

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hi Dave,

I would call them. Did you appeal back in 2014? I had a hearing scheduled and they canceled on me as they were in the process of reworking this whole mess. If you had an appeal or were scheduled the system may have sent out an auto-message. Last time, about 2+ years ago, when this happened I called and they said to ignore.

Each town has a different story on this so when in doubt, call and get your answer.

Good luck,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Jon,

I think you hit a nerve there. Welcome to the club of public sector doing more with less. Everyone has some great ideas above so I’ll add my small list as well.

1. When the job is getting you over the top at your office take a walk through the early childhood center. See if you can go read them a book or just simply hang out. A very wise Arthur Montrond, Plymouth Schools, gave me that advice 20+ years ago and it helped me keep it in control and remember why we do what we do. Kind of hard to be ticked off when you have a bunch of little buggers running around enjoying life.

2. If the workplace you are in is toxic I’d recommend “Rising Above A Toxic Workplace – Taking Care of Yourself in an Unhealthy Work Environment”. Good book, quick read or listen on Audible, helps frame what you can do for yourself over things you have no control of.

3. Schedule yourself a massage! Some folks have a standing massage once a month to help get rid of that stress!

4. Another great book which flips stress on its head is “The Upside of Stress” by Kelly McGonigal. Powerful information of why you actually do your job better under stress… we all do which is why we are in this profession. You don’t have to fight it, use it and leverage it as a positive.

5. Laughter. Find something that makes you laugh and keep it on the ready if you are feeling overwhelmed. Great therapy. Here is mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-6nJCQYdo

6. Come to our events and talk with folks. You have already started that by using this thread. Sharing your struggles with your colleagues, we are the only people in the world that get what you do, and commiserating in each other’s sometimes misery is extremely therapeutic.

Thank you to everyone for responding. All great tips and certainly sound advice for all of us to keep in mind.

Be well,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Jon,

When you find that answer, please let me know. Although you feel you are in a better position, which many of believe as well. You will always be thinking ” WHAT IF” I did this instead or ” WHAT IF ” my staff were doing it this way instead. Procurement is frustrating to say the least, something we just can’t control when it comes to the LOW BIDS or actually high as we think. Our minds are constantly turning whether we are awake or asleep. Sorry to say this is a life we live.

Buy a Harley, that is the best thing I did to free the mind

Mike Gormley, MT

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hi Steve,

We do all the field maintenance and game prep in house, except for fertilization, that is outsourced. I use custodians and maintenance to do all the work, this includes all line painting and cutting. We have 44+ that we maintain. Total of 3 fields setup for fall sports which include football, soccer and field hockey.

 

Mike

Monty Tech

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

We had a modular classroom that had the same problem. After a million hours trying to figure this out we realized the air handler was shutting off anytime the lights went off. No air movement for 70% of the day. Saved a ton on energy but not so good for IAQ.

Mike Feeney is great.

• Mike Feeney, Director
  Mike.Feeney@state.ma.us
  (617) 624-5757

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

TopCoat Services out of West Barnstable. They use a product called JetRock. I’m having our kitchen done. Goes right over whatever old floor you have.

https://www.jetrockinc.com/

Jon Snyer

Harvard Public Schools

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Just checking to make sure everyone received this update yesterday. Hope to see you all in Plymouth next Friday and your custodians at either Northampton or Plymouth.

Be well and Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad’s out there!

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Update for Concord – Carlisle position:

Salary: $120,000 – $130,000 depending on experience.

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Tony,

I would first ask the manufacturer if the LVT is a certified encapsulant? Some carpet manufacturers have certification for this but not sure on hard surface flooring.  As for performance, I haven’t done any projects like this so can’t speak to that end. It will certainly minimize the impact of VAT tile from a day to day standpoint.

Here is a link, I’m not promoting this company just they have a good article on pros and cons: https://www.otitech.com/blog/asbestos-flooring-abatement-vs.-encapsulation-navigating-the-pitfalls-of-asbestos

Good luck,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hi folks,

Round two of our custodial training was a great success. Round two is just around the corner in Northampton and Plymouth. We still have scholarships from MIIA for member communities. I currently have the following towns taking advantage of scholarships:

Dennis-Yarmouth, Grafton, Lincoln-Sudbury, Maynard, Millbury, Milton, Monty Tech., Westborough, & Weymouth.

I’m going to put a time limit on the remaining scholarships. If I don’t hear from folks within the next two weeks I will be giving the remainder of the scholarships to the towns that have already applied for this. Meaning those towns hit the jackpot and may have all their registrations covered…..

Please take the time to register for Northampton or Plymouth and if your insurance carrier is MIIA let me know if you are interested in the (5) five – free registrations which are valued at $250.

Thanks,

Ken

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

Hey Joe,

The survey can’t be edited. It is a pdf that you download. With hacker protection and firewall, it made it cost prohibitive with the new website build to create a form that our members could edit real time as the content is very sensitive information.

To work around we use Survey Monkey as our survey tool and that survey was up for several months but closed now until the following cycle when I’ll send out the new link for folks to update.

Any questions let me know,

Thanks Ken

 

[Ken Wertz, MFAA Exec]

We use Buckley Elevator in Sharon. They have been a good firm to work with.  https://www.buckleyelevator.com/

 

Good luck,

Ken