By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Taking a closer look at notable city data—and interesting numbers. 

223 inspections and 99 health license applications in 2017: How do you know a pound is really a pound at the store and a gallon is really a gallon at the gas station? The Weights and Measures Division of the City’s Inspectional Services Department is responsible for enforcing the accuracy requirements and other standards relating to weighing and measuring devices used in the sale of food, fuels, and other products. The work they do is instrumental in protecting consumers whether they take a taxi, fill up their gas tank, or purchase items that need scanning at a grocery store.

In 2017, Weights and Measures completed a total of 223 inspections of taxi meters, oil trucks, gas stations, and businesses with scales. In addition, they reviewed 99 health license applications for establishments with scales or measuring devices.

The division is preparing to begin price verification inspections in September to meet state consumer and merchant protection standards, and there are more than 200 retail stores in Somerville that will require inspection. Each of those inspections requires verifying the listed price to the register/scanner price of 100 items in each store.

$1.7 million grant for Lead Paint Safe Somerville Program: One of the priorities for this year’s affordable housing agenda is the launch of the Lead Paint Safe Somerville Program. This program aims to expand the number of lead-free units ready for families seeking housing by providing no-interest, forgivable loans for lead paint removal. The Housing Division of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development secured a federal grant of $1.7 Million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the program.  With these funds, our goal is to remove lead paint, which is a hazard especially to young children, from 90 Somerville housing units by 2021.

Residents and property owners are invited to learn more at the Lead Paint Safe Somerville Information Session Thursday, June 14, 2018, at the East Somerville Public Library, 115 Broadway. Refreshments will be provided. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7 p.m.

14 seconds average queue time for 311 calls: The City’s Constituent Services Department hears from you about day-to-day services and issues like trash pickup, permit requests, construction updates, and parking questions – and they take all of those snow-related requests each winter. Despite having one of the smallest constituent service centers in the country, Somerville 311 answers 87 percent of constituent calls within their goal of 20 seconds. However, average queue times are even lower than that. Callers only wait an average of 14 seconds before speaking to a 311 representative and only 3 percent of calls are abandoned before speaking to a representative. Customer service can be a challenging job. The next time you call 311, if you appreciate the quick and professional service, please don’t hesitate to thank this hard-working crew.

Second most snow requests on record: Now that we’re in the midst of some warmer weather with summer on the horizon, it is finally safe to talk about some snow data without jinxing ourselves. There’s no question that this winter was challenging, and the numbers show that as well. Winter 2018 resulted in 1,466 snow-related requests, which is the second most on record (only behind winter 2015) since 311 began tracking. January 2018 was the second busiest month on record with 1,029 snow-related requests.

There were some other notable takeaways from this winter as well. The median number of days to complete a snow removal request was two days, which was consistent with the previous two years. DPW spent just under $3 Million on snow removal this winter, about $1.7 million over budget.  The largest expense was plowing, at just over $1 million or 36 percent of the total.

Data-based decision making is at the core of how the City of Somerville develops policy and sets priorities. Every day we check the latest 311 stats, and throughout the week we meet for in-depth review of departmental data and city trends. The Data Download column shares some of the data we’ve been reviewing recently, as well as interesting updates. To see more Somerville Data, visit the online Somerville Data Farm at www.somervillema.gov/datafarm.