Boilers, Sidewalks Dominate Town Meeting Agenda

With capital funding requests dominating the discussion – and a brief intermission to address issues with voting devices — Town Meeting members passed all articles as presented Wednesday night.

Articles included $1.57 million for capital projects, $2.45 million for paving and sidewalks, and $1.6 million for the Chenery Upper Elementary School boiler replacement. In addition to several recurring standard articles, members also voted to repeal the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund, which was established in 2023, and appropriate $107,020 to the Opioid Settlement Special Revenue Fund from free cash, the amount the town received from the opioid settlement.

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The final article, a five-year lease for Tasers, will be taken up on Monday.

Chenery Boilers

Christine Doyle, chair of the Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee, encouraged Town Meeting members to consider the boiler project as one of three interrelated projects. The other two projects — installing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units and repairing the roof (with the potential of making the roof solar-ready) — would be items for discussion and funding requests in the future.

“The system being put in place is considerably more efficient than the current system that was put in place about 30 years ago,” said Doyle.

She said gas and electricity were considered, with natural gas being the most cost-effective option.

“This option is the least expensive in terms of capital and operating,” Doyle said, noting the operating costs for the electric option are higher by roughly $465,000 per year.

A few members asked about the availability of state and federal rebates, but Doyle said there are minimal opportunities because rebates are being phased out for natural gas.

“It is going to be really important to make sure these [three projects] can happen during the summer, so we don’t have to keep any schools closed,” said School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty. “One thing I’ve learned since being on a committee is how much has to happen operationally after we take votes. There is going to need to be so much planning.”

Roads, Sidewalks

In the last year, Town Engineer Glenn Clancy committed to re-evaluating the town’s roads for a “fresh condition index.” Computer software would then allow the town to take its budget information and inform it of the most efficient way to spend road maintenance money.

Public Works Director Jay Marcotte is following a similar process, he said. Marcotte said all 98.16 miles of sidewalks were filmed (using a Go-Pro) as part of a sidewalk assessment.

On Wednesday, Town Meeting was asked to approve $1.9 million for road repairs and $499,770 for sidewalks. Marcotte said this funding supports the work on roughly 2.5 miles of the town’s sidewalks.

“I’m a walker,” said Precinct 5 Town Meeting member Judie Feins. “I could tell you there are a tremendous number of hazardous places.”

Maryann Scali, who represents Precinct 2, asked for a list of roads on their priority list.

Clancy said while he doesn’t have one prepared for the upcoming fiscal year, the following roads are part of a contract using funds from fiscal year 2024:

Marsh Street from Concord Avenue to Winter Street
Sycamore from Lexington Street to the Watertown line
Fairview Avenue from Grove Street to Dartmouth Street
Concord Avenue eastbound, opposite Underwood Street to Cambridge
Cushing Avenue from Common Street to Oak Avenue
White Street from Belmont Street to Trapelo Road

Roberts said he believes there may be a perception in town that “there isn’t much progress” with respect to roads and sidewalks. He suggested the town consider a computer application called SeeClickFix.

“That would give us, as the community, an opportunity to report to you so you’re leveraging the wisdom of the crowd, and also allow us to track those issues, so when your team comes out and fixes it, then the person who reports it, or the website, gets updated. It gives this sense of progress and closure.”

Clancy said it was a great recommendation but noted adding such a program requires funding.

“The town needs more money. This is not a popular thing to talk about on Town Meeting floor, but the reality is … the backlog of lists of requests for sidewalk repairs so far exceeds the amount of money budget every year,” he said.

The $500,000 requested was nearly twice what is typically requested at Town Meeting, he said, and yet still would only pay for improvements on 2% of the town’s sidewalks.

“The funding is the biggest problem we have,” he said.