The mayor is learning to juggle.

Frank Picozzi made that clear Tuesday during his weekly press conference with Warwick Beacon reporters. The list of reporter questions ranged from when McDermott Pool might reopen to how he plans to reunite city workers under a single roof and who he thinks should get the vaccine – and whether he should be on that list.

In three weeks on the job, he said he’s learned one thing, although it doesn’t differ from what he suspected when he stepped into the job.

“The city’s a mess and we’re trying to sort things out, and we are,” Picozzi said.

Like what?

Picozzi cited how overtime costs in the Department of Public Works have climbed because so many personnel are quarantined. But there’s more to it. Sanitation trucks are going down, and in order to complete routes with the trucks that work, they and the men who drive them are on the road longer.

“We don’t have enough personnel and equipment. We have to come up with a plan,” he said.

The department is in need of new trucks, yet that hasn’t been budgeted and Picozzi has yet to get a firm grip on the city’s financial picture.

“How much money do we have, and it’s not what we were told,” he said.

McDermott Pool, which closed with the shutdown last March and hasn’t reopened, is a poster child for what Picozzi said he’s finding.

One of the pool’s three heaters – used not only to heat pool water but also the building – needs to be replaced because it was not properly maintained. That’s estimated to cost $20,000. Then one of two pumps used to circulate the water has ceased and has to be replaced, while the other should be rebuilt. That’s another $10,000.

The city has a contractor in place that can handle the work, so that could be accomplished relatively soon. Then there’s more. Inspection of the equipment revealed much of the piping for the filtration and heating needs to be replaced. Picozzi described it as “broken” and put the price tag at another $30,000. Normally, that work would require specifications and bids as well as City Council approval, meaning at earliest the pool won’t be reopening – assuming no other gremlins pop up – for at least two months.

In a follow-up call, Picozzi said he checked with the purchasing and finance departments and learned that he could expedite repairs with council approval. He then called City Council President Steve McAllister, who agreed with the plan. The hope is to have the pool reopen next month.

It’s going to be a lot longer before Picozzi can reunite municipal offices in Apponaug.

It’s been three years since a burst pipe flooded the City Hall Annex and the offices it housed were relocated to the former Greene School. Former Mayor Joseph Solomon brought many of the offices closer to the seat of city government when they were moved to a renovated Buttonwoods Community Center. But there wasn’t the space for everything in Buttonwoods, and three departments were given a temporary home in the former Randall Holden School.

Picozzi wants to bring all the offices back to either a new or reconstructed annex. When he first looked at the annex, his plan was to go all new. What that would cost has him questioning if the bones of the old building are solid and might save some money.

“Maybe we can salvage the structure. We’re exploring the options before tearing it down,” he said.

He thinks a $5.5 million buildings improvement bond that was approved by voters and never issued, as well as a $500,000 settlement on the insurance claim, might be enough to pull it off.

One ball that no longer in the air – and one less for him to juggle – is the library.

After learning that the library’s state funding of $752,000 is in jeopardy because it is not meeting standards to be open 64 hours a week, Picozzi quickly granted Jana Stevenson’s request to hire a part-time librarian, a slot that was budgeted but one of eight positions left unfilled in addition to four eliminated positions under the prior administration.

Stevenson, who is the director of the library, said the additional librarian would allow the library to extend hours to 57 hours weekly and then reopen on Sunday starting in March. She said Tuesday the state has granted a waiver of the 64-hour standard based on the fact that with the addition of Sunday it will be at 65 hours weekly.

She expects that with the waiver, the city should start receiving the state funding.

On another front, vacant school buildings, Picozzi said he is anxious to sell off the properties and get them on the tax rolls. He said he has had discussions with two parties interested in the former Aldrich Junior High School, which has been vacant since the School Committee consolidated secondary schools from three to two high schools and middle schools four years ago.

Also dangling are unpaid property taxes, utility payments and sewer assessments for 2019 and 2020. Delinquent notices went out this week and the administration is looking at holding a tax sale in June, although it has yet to be determined whether that can be done virtually.

The effort now, explained Tax Collector Kyla Jones, is to remind people that taxes are due and to work with them on a payment plan so as to avoid a tax sale.

On the positive side, in a report to the City Council this week, Finance Director Peder Schaefer finds that the city is on track to collect 99 percent of property taxes as budgeted in spite of the pandemic. As car tax bills just went into the mail, Schaefer said it is too early to know what rate of payment the city can expect. Revenues from hotel and meals and beverage taxes are down because of the pandemic.

As for whether he agrees with soon-to-be Gov. Dan McKee that legislators should be among the first to get the vaccine, Picozzi said municipal employees dealing with the public and critical to operations should take precedent. In particular, he cited police and fire dispatchers and those working with the public daily. He put himself and legislators at the back of the line.