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Tag: department of public works

  • Lowell’s Washington School cleared for lead contamination

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    LOWELL — During separate meetings, both the School Committee and the Board of Health weighed in on suspected lead contamination at a worksite at Washington Elementary School, with the BOH requesting protocols on future projects.

    At the Nov. 19 School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Liam Skinner assured the body that the official report of in-depth testing, performed by Titan Lead Testing LLC on dust generated by recent repair work, showed that “there are no lead levels of concern in the school.”

    “We’re pleased that the situation was mitigated in the way that it was,” Skinner said.

    The school, which Skinner described as one of the district’s oldest buildings, was built in 1910.

    According to previous Sun reporting, a section of the ceiling collapsed in the basement in early fall. But the cleanup of the debris and repair of the area by employees with the Department of Public Works spread dust throughout the building that is home to pre-K through grade 4 students and staff.

    The school district uses the buildings, but almost all are owned by the city. The district is responsible for custodial services, like cleaning, while the city is responsible for repairs and improvements.

    “It seems as though the area was wrapped in such a way that dust should not have escaped from the area where the construction was going on, but that was clearly not sufficient or didn’t work well,” Skinner said. “So, dust from the area did travel. It was quite remarkable to witness the extent to which dust could travel from the lower areas to the upper areas.”

    An over-the-counter kit indicated that there might be lead in the dust, and the district ordered testing through Titan, as well as a thorough cleaning of the school over the weekend of Nov. 15-16.

    Skinner said School Deputy Facilities Director John Leahy oversaw the weekend cleaning. The former School Committee member, District 3 – Belvidere city councilor and mayor owned and operated Leahy Painting for 25 of the 40 years that he was a professional painter. He gave up his private contracting business to take a position in the Facilities Department of Lowell Public Schools.

    “John Leahy was quite familiar with lead paint and lead paint dust issues and knew the correct procedure for cleaning that,” Skinner told the committee. “He was able to be there and instruct people on the proper techniques and the proper equipment.”

    School reopened that Monday.

    The lead conversation was raised in the Board of Health meeting held Jan. 7 at City Hall. Unlike the School Committee meeting, the Titan report was attached to agenda packet and part of the public record.

    Health and Human Services Director Lisa Golden said that although the school does have some lead paint in it, all the testing came back negative.

    Titan referenced the issue of undisturbed lead, noting that when renovation, repair or painting activities are performed in premises identified as housing or child-occupied facilities, work must be done in accordance with the “RRP Rule” as described in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, 454 CMR 22.00.

    “Renovation and demolition activities that impact surfaces where lead may be present require specific work practices and disposal requirements,” said the report written by Master Inspector/Risk Assessor David Pesce, and addressed to DPW Commissioner Paul St. Cyr.

    “These regulations require the use of trained workers and firms, including a certified Lead-Safe Renovation Supervisor, notification to occupants, occupant protections, posting of signs, use of containment, lead-safe work practices, cleaning requirements, and post-cleaning verification or clearance,” Pesce said.

    The report recommended that an ongoing operations and maintenance plan should be developed in order to identify surfaces containing lead-based paint which may be disturbed by renovation and maintenance activities such as painting or repairs.

    “This plan would outline procedures for testing surfaces, training of workers, worker protection, occupant protection, and post-work cleanup of work areas,” Pesce said.

    Given the age of the building, state regulations and the Titan report, BOH member Kathleen Cullen-Lutter questioned what process was in place to address present or potential lead-based work.

    “Maybe [Golden] can clarify with Mr. St. Cyr that there is a process if they were to disturb the lead that they would have that process in place,” Chair Jo-Ann Keegan said.

    Environmental issues surrounding aging facilities in district buildings have dominated the city-school discourse. For years, the almost 60-year-old Pawtucketville Memorial Elementary School, located at 425 West Meadow Road, has had a proclivity for mold growth that has, at times, delayed the opening of the first day of classes.

    In 2024, a “considerable” amount of asbestos was found in parts of the 1922 building that is under renovation during the $422 million Lowell High School renovation and rebuilding project. Construction dust was monitored during the project after high levels were found in adjacent classrooms.

    More recently, the Sullivan Middle School experienced flooding when four heating coils froze in early December, flooding the school library.

    Pesce’s report cautioned that not all surfaces were tested at the Washington School, suggesting that a protocol for future work would be warranted.

    “Additional lead-containing building substrates and components may be present in other building areas or hidden by floor, wall and ceiling finishes or otherwise may be inaccessible,” his report said.

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    Melanie Gilbert

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  • Public money woos private investment in Frontrunner City Initiative

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    LOWELL — To represent Lowell on the world stage takes money, and city leadership is investing significant personnel and financial resources in a yearlong effort to bring United Nations-led investment and development to the city through its Frontrunner City for Urban Transformation designation.

    For a seat at the global table — in Geneva, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada — as well as to meet the numerous requirements in the memorandum of understanding signed with the Urban Economy Forum in August, the city has had to front considerable costs for travel, for documents and for access.

    Although the goal of those investments is clear — to position Lowell, the first city in the United States to receive Frontrunner City status, with international private development — what’s not clear, is how much taxpayer funds the city has actually invested.

    “The Frontrunner City Program is a tremendous opportunity for Lowell,” City Manager Tom Golden said by email Oct. 24. “It aligns directly with the Lowell Forward Master Plan, our Green Community designation, and our zoning and infrastructure reforms. It has already opened doors to international partnerships, philanthropic interest, and potential foreign direct investment that would otherwise be out of reach for the City of Lowell.”

    At the Oct. 28 City Council meeting, Councilor Erik Gitschier’s motion requested Golden provide the council with “a detailed report on all expenditures for the frontrunner city, including the program, travel and any other expenses.”

    That response is pending, but a look at publicly available records shows costs associated with marketing and publicity, council-approved travel expenses, UEF filings and documents, as well as broker and conference fees associated with Lowell’s participation in UEF that could exceed $1 million.

    Mayor Dan Rourke kicked off Lowell’s participation last September by attending UEF-6 in Toronto, for an international conference on financing sustainable tourism. Rourke participated as a speaker in the mayoral roundtable and his nominal travel expenses amounted to $1,300.

    “I believe this opportunity will greatly benefit our community by enhancing the City of Lowell visibility,” he said in his out-of-state travel request.

    It was at that meeting that Rourke first learned of the Frontrunner City opportunity.

    One month later, eight people were approved for out-of-state travel to attend the Front Runner Community Initiative Program in Toronto for almost $4,000. The UEF covered the travel costs for hotel, flights and lodging.

    This past February, the City Council voted to appropriate $750,000 from free cash to support economic development initiatives, including promoting the Frontrunner City Initiative.

    Free cash is composed in part of unspent, unencumbered appropriations from the prior fiscal year.

    By July, the city was hosting a UEF and World Pavilion delegation. It is not known how much the UEF contributed toward their visit, nor how much Lowell expensed to host them, which included group meals at the Athenian Corner and Cobblestones restaurants, the latter at which a memorandum of understanding was signed by the city with the UEF.

    During their three-day site visit to Lowell, the Department of Planning and Development pitched the UEF team on a dozen development sites including the Hamilton Canal Innovation District off Dutton Street in Downtown Lowell; both the vacant District and Superior Courthouses on Hurd and Gorham streets, respectively; the Gallagher Terminal area where the city owns vacant land; the South Common area in Back Central; and other locations.

    But the focus was on the development opportunities in the Jackson, Appleton and Middlesex streets area.

    “Lowell’s JAM+ project represents an area ready for transformation and includes infill housing opportunities, new retail and commercial opportunities, improved open space and recreation, improved transit and connections, and a potential geothermal project,” Assistant City Manager/DPD Director Yovani Baez-Rose said in a memo to the City Council.

    To attend the UEF and World Urban Forum at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva in August, the city shelled out $33,258 to cover the costs of 11 people — seven councilors and four staff members, including Golden.

    The business trip may have included some incidental costs paid by the UEF or other partner associations, which were not disclosed.

    “Following the formal announcement of the City of Lowell as the first United States Frontrunner City, we have received outreach and communications from global businesses interested in working with Lowell and the Urban Economy Forum,” Baez-Rose said in an Oct. 7 memo. “The city’s Communications staff have been working closely with the UEF on press coverage for this continued partnership.”

    Lowell leadership returned to Toronto for more Frontrunner discussions Sept. 17-18. One week later, Lowell was represented at the Global Expert Meeting in Toronto by Rourke and Department of Public Works Sustainability Director Katherine Moses. Out-of-state travel costs could not be determined for this trip, which may have come out of free cash.

    In October, Lowell leadership again traveled to Toronto to attend the seventh annual Urban Economy Forum, a global event dedicated to reshaping urban economies. The almost $10,000 cost to the city was offset by the UEF covering some unspecified incidental costs.

    Golden, Rourke, DPD Deputy Director Camilo Espitia, Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs/Chief Financial Officer Conor Baldwin and Councilors Corey Belanger, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem and Sokhary Chau attended the conference.

    The JAM project discussed in July is still in the draft phase, but it was presented during the UEF-7 sessions, which included global investors.

    Some incidental costs the UEF may not have covered was the $13,000 to register for the conference, as well as other costs to participate in the sessions and forums.

    In addition to an initial outlay of $12,000 in marketing collateral to promote the city, Lowell has purchased other public relations collateral in various real estate and financial outlets, not all of which has been disclosed to date.

    “It is important to emphasize that the city has not paid the UEF for a title or designation,” Golden said in his October email. “Rather, we have invested in the infrastructure necessary to support our role as a Frontrunner City. This includes the creation of a comprehensive profile of the City of Lowell to be used to attract investors. These are investments in capacity, not fees.”

    Golden emphasized that financial outlays were investments similar to creating Lowell’s Master Plan.

    “Lowell’s designation as the first U.S. Frontrunner City was not purchased — we are continuing to work and earn it,” he said. “It reflects over 12 months of work by our planning, sustainability, and economic development teams, and it positions our city to compete globally for resources and recognition. There has been continuous communication and collaboration between the city and UEF staff throughout this time.”

    The council is expected to receive an update on its Frontrunner City investment status in the coming weeks, and Golden told the council at its Oct. 28 meeting that a dashboard will be posted to the city’s website soon “with everything that’s been happening with the Frontrunner City.”

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    Melanie Gilbert

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  • See what Jackson, MS, police, fire departments asked for in budget meetings

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    Jackson City Council members heard budget requests on Friday, Aug. 29, from three department heads — Jackson Police Department, Jackson Fire Department and Department of Public Works — for fiscal year 2025-2026.

    The hour and 15 minute-meeting adjourned after each department presented their presentations to the council.

    See what each department said about its budget:

    Jackson Police Department

    Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones, who was recently appointed as interim chief of the Jackson Police Department, appeared first before the council.

    Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade, who announced his resignation on Aug. 26, was absent from the meeting. Jones attended in Wade’s place. Wade’s resignation takes effect Sept. 5.

    For the coming year, Jones is requesting a $37.8 million budget, slightly increased from the previous year’s budget around $36 million.

    The proposed budget allocation for FY 25-26 was presented as follows:

    • Personnel service to cover salaries and benefits: $30,876,452

    • Supplies and materials for items used in daily operations: $2,216,227

    • Other services and charges to pay for contracted services and training: $2,032,265

    • Capital outlay to pay for funds for purchasing assets such as vehicles and technology: $1,345,415

    • Grants and contributions to allocate money to community programs: $1,310,066

    • Debt service to cover repayment of borrowed funds: $25,858

    “The budget reflects an unwavering commitment to serving the community with a clear focus on efficiency, transparency and integrity in every action that we take,” Jones said.

    For two years in a row, the council approved pay raises for JPD. Jones said the department is not asking for pay raises for this new fiscal year.

    Jones said instead, JPD is aksing for the council to allocate $437,820 for eight patrol vehicles upfitted with items such as radios, technology and emergency equipment. Jones said for the previous fiscial year, $736,028 was allocated to fund 15 upfitted patrol vehicles.

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    As it relates to the vehicles, Jones said there have been discussions about lease purchasing police cars through Enterprise Fleet Management.

    “For approximately $587,000, you can get 42 vehicles on this lease purchase agreement. You can get 100 vehicles for approximately $1.5 million. And you can get 84 vehicles for approximately $1.2 million for this program,” Jones said. “But this money from my understanding would be have to be budgeted every year for these for these vehicles.”

    Wade 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell asked Jones about how funding for license plate readers and 25 additional cameras were accounted for in the budget. Jones said it was not included in this budget. Grizzell stated the issue would be addressed through amendments.

    Jackson Fire Department

    Speaking after Jones was Jackson Fire Department Chief RaSean Thomas, who disclosed that the current budget level is $25,935,321, which is 93% of the department’s personnel services and 7% of operational needs.

    Details were presented as follows:

    • Building maintenance: $73,238

    • Motor vehicle repairs: $250,000

    According to Thomas, since Oct. 1, 2024, the department received 11,316 incident calls, 501 smoke scares, 292 structure fires and 151 vehicle fires.

    Thomas said the department operates 21 fire stations, 12 engines, six ladder trucks, five rescue units and one mini-pumper.

    “The budget we’ve presented before the council today will suffice the needs that we need for this coming fiscal year,” Thomas said.

    After Thomas finished his presentation, Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote asked, “Is $73,000 enough to take care of 21 fire stations?”

    Newly elected Jackson, Miss., Mayor John Horhn, from left, and newly sworn in councilmen, from left, Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, Council President Brian Grizzell, Ward 4, Vice President Vernon Hartley, Ward 5, Ward 6 Councilwoman Lashia Brown-Thomas and Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson attend a city council meeting in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

    Thomas answered, “It’s enough to start the process. We’re looking for other funding, federal funding to assist with that. The mayor and the administration are working hard to make sure we secure funding to ensure that we’re about to rehab our stations, but we understand it’s a long process.”

    Foote reponded, “If you divide 73 by 21, you only end up with three or four thousand dollars, and that’s not near enough money. We need to allocate a whole lot more money to maintaining 21 different fire stations, that firemen live in, have showers, plumbing and air conditioning and all the other things people normally expect out of their residence. You can’t take care of 21 buildings with only a budget of $73,000. That needs to be adjusted.”

    Foote urged council members to prioritize increasing funding for the fire stations and suggested they “triple, quadruple, or quintuple” the proposed amount, citing the poor conditions of many of the city’s fire stations.

    Department of Public Works

    Coming near the end of the meeting, the Public Works Department presented updates that were led by Interim CAO and Interim Public Works Director Peter Teeuwissen, alongside two other department members.

    The department is asking for a flat budget of $16,557,043. The breakdown of the budget was not read aloud.

    “We clearly need much more than $16 million to maintain the infrastructure of the city of Jackson. Let me make that clear,” Teeuwissen said. “The department itself is not very efficiently organized. And so before we come seeking more money, what we seek is to put these numbers in place. Then allow us, during this upcoming fiscal year, to better consolidate our resources.”

    One item the department proposed was moving grass-cutting and seasonal crews to the public works division to ensure fully staffed, properly scheduled teams across multiple areas. According to Teeuwissen, the public works division currently has 177 authorized positions, with 174 filled — a sharp decline from the nearly 500 employees it employed in previous years.

    The renovated city council chambers inside Jackson City Hall, seen in this 2013 Clarion Ledger file photo, has a city seal in place of the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the wall behind the bench.

    The renovated city council chambers inside Jackson City Hall, seen in this 2013 Clarion Ledger file photo, has a city seal in place of the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the wall behind the bench.

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    “We need more employees, but we’re not there yet,” Teeuwissen said, adding the department rather maximize current staff before requesting additional hires.

    The department also requested the council raise custodians’ pay from $11 to $12.46 per hour, noting that maintenance workers received a raise from $9 to $14 in a previous budget while custodians did not. Teeuwissen urged the council to consider the increase.

    “That is not $14 where maintenance was, but having met with a number of the custodians, they are understanding that we necessarily can’t do that in one year. But if we would show some good faith, they would certainly be pleased,” Teeuwissen said.

    Teeuwissen also mentioned the department may pursue challenging U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate on if the public works division “can get out of the business of having to subsidize JXN Water employees.”

    Wingate appointed JXN Water Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin in 2022 to manage Jackson’s water and sewer systems. Henifin later established JXN Water to operate the utilities under federal oversight.

    Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

    This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS city council hears police, fire, public works budgets 2025

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  • Tewksbury sees 4 water main breaks in 5 days as Select Board seeks to address aging pipes

    Tewksbury sees 4 water main breaks in 5 days as Select Board seeks to address aging pipes

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    TEWKSBURY — The Select Board met for a working session Oct. 22 to talk about long-term plans to address the town’s aging water pipes, and soon after the issue was highlighted further when the town faced four water main breaks in less than a week.

    Water main breaks were reported on James Street Oct. 30, Veranda Avenue on Nov. 2, Astle Street on Nov. 3 and Pleasant Street on Nov. 4. Town Manager Richard Montuori said in a phone call Monday afternoon the first three breaks had already been fixed, with the Pleasant Street break expected to be fixed in short order as well.

    Montuori said there is nothing extraordinary about four water main breaks in a relatively short period of time, with age being the likely culprit rather than any other external factors.

    “These are the normal water main breaks we see throughout the year,” said Montuori.

    Tewksbury’s water pipes are aging, an issue the Select Board had a working session to discuss recently at the lead of board member James Mackey.

    Mackey said in a Monday phone call about half of Tewksbury’s roughly 160 miles of pipes are past their estimated end of life, and Tewksbury has been averaging about 30 breaks per year in recent years.

    “I have always been fiscally conservative, and I think there are very few things we should be throwing money at to solve our problems, but this is a unique situation,” said Mackey.

    Mackey has taken the lead on the issue for the board for the last three years, working with Montuori and the Department of Public Works, which he joked has given him “a master’s in water.” Some older New England water infrastructure is made up of asbestos cement, which Mackey said is a formerly common water conduit that sags over time. When such pipes are depressurized and then pressurized again, Mackey said this causes micro-cracks to form, compromising the pipe’s integrity.

    The town has a five-year capital plan, as does the Department of Public Works, but Mackey proposed a 10-year plan to address the aging pipes with a higher rate of replacement, which he called “the most realistic timeline we can achieve it in.”

    “Shorter than that, and we run into issues with shutting down too many roads at once. Any longer and more of it would age and have to be added to the plan,” said Mackey.

    During the Oct. 22 meeting, Mackey roughly estimated that plan would be about $200 million over the course of that 10 years.

    Mackey also sought to clear up what he said was misinformation surrounding the water main breaks.

    “There has been misinformation going around about water main breaks having to do with overdevelopment in town. That is unrelated,” said Mackey. “This is because of the aging water infrastructure.”

    None of Mackey’s colleagues on the board disagreed with the idea that Tewksbury needs to address its water infrastructure, and all of them were supportive of at least coming up with a longer-term plan during the recent working session. Some of them though had concerns over the potential costs of replacing pipes faster than the town’s current rate of one to three miles per year.

    “To put it in 10 years, the only way we are going to do that is if we raised taxes,” said board member Mark Kratman during the Oct. 22 working session. “I don’t know if there is an appetite to be able to do that at this time.”

    Board member Eric Ryder called the potential $20 million annual cost “a big ask.”

    “I would love a plan, a plan would be great, but a 30% water increase, or even a 20% water increase and a 7% tax increase, or an override, I just can’t support that right now,” said Ryder, also expressing concerns over the amount of extra staff a faster plan would require.

    Ryder said it would not be economically in the cards for the town right now, but he praised Mackey’s plan and said it would be worth looking at in future years under different economic circumstances.

    Select Board Chair Patrick Holland suggested that the town should continue to seek grant funding or low-interest loans from the state and federal government to avoid the burden on the ratepayers or taxpayers. Getting that funding, Mackey said to Holland in response, will be easier with an actual marketable plan in place like what he put together.

    “I totally agree with having something on the shelf ready to go,” said Holland.

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    Peter Currier

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  • ROCKPORT RAMBLINGS: ‘Shed your meds’ topic for luncheon

    ROCKPORT RAMBLINGS: ‘Shed your meds’ topic for luncheon

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    Worried your taking too many medicines? A presentation on Wednesday may help you advocate for yourself and keep medications in check throughout the aging process.

    The Rockport Council on Aging will host Donna Bartlett, author of “MedStrong,” at a special luncheon presentation Wednesday, Feb. 21, at noon.

    The lunch and presentation topic “Shed Your Meds” is free thanks to sponsorship from Addison Gilbert Hospital and the Friends of the Rockport Council on Aging. The event will take place at the Rockport Community House, 58 Broadway, where seats are limited and advance reservations are required.

    A board-certified geriatric pharmacist based in Worcester, Bartlett is engaged in community outreach programming specializing in older adult medication needs, affordability and prescription coverage. Bartlett has seen first-hand the effects of staying on medication longer than necessary and the impact of “over medication.”

    Those in attendance can expect to come away with a better understanding of “de-prescribing” from an expert who has been practicing, teaching and speaking on the subject for more than 15 years. Copies of Bartlett’s book “MedStrong” will be available for purchase at the event.

    Seats may be reserved by contacting the Rockport Council on Aging at 978-546-2573.

    Career Day

    The DECA chapter at Rockport High School is sponsoring Career Day on Wednesday, April 3, at the school, 24 Jerden’s Lane, from 8 to 10:30 a.m., and the chapter is seeking for volunteers for presentations. Rockport High alumni are encouraged to present. Anyone interested in participating should email DECA advisor Scott Larsen at slarsen@rpk12.org.

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    Rockport Ramblings | All Hands

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