This report was presented by Essex Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki at this week’s Board of Selectmen meeting on August 24th, 2020 and it covers topics of interest for town business from August 8th to August 21st.
At the last meeting, the Board asked that the Town Administrator (TA) contact the Planning Board to ask the Planning Board to consider taking a consensus vote concerning whether directional signs for private businesses and non-profits should be allowed on Town property. Mr. Zubricki explained to the Planning Board Chairman the various limitations that the Selectmen would seek to impose on signage (if allowed after legal review) and the Planning Board took the matter up on August 19. The Planning Board’s consensus recommendation is that the Selectmen NOT permit the posting of commercially-related signage (even if just for wayfinding) on Town property.
IT Personnel at the Town of Danvers datacenter feel that a recurring problem with the lockup of our virtual server covering Town Hall involves conflicting issues with operating system updates that are hard to trace. As such, Danvers plans to spin up a new virtual server, with a fresh install of the server operating system, that we will then migrate users to. We will start with a few, test users to determine if the new system also shows signs of instability, in which case we may have a driver incompatibility issue, probably with printers, which may require the upgrade of some printers.
Our IT consultant will have a chance to talk with the TA and IT personnel from the Town of Danvers, during the week of August 24, 2020, about cutting over to a new, direct fiber optic link between the Essex Town Hall and the Danvers datacenter. A recent, grant-funded project allowed Danvers to pass through other communities to offer 100% municipally-owned fiber, with no usage fees, between the two. The work is part of a larger, regional project which will eventually have several north shore communities directly connected to Danvers for real-time system backup and other services which are presently being explored (like Essex does now). Essex will move from an Internet-based, encrypted VPN tunnel to the fiber link in the near future. Danvers IT personnel will brief our consultant on the technical details of the connection so that we can start planning the necessary provisioning on our end and perhaps a target cutover date.
Chairman Pereen and the TA attended weekly construction meetings on August 13 and 20, 2020. The job continues to progress well and the masonry work for the prisoner detention area has been completed. The generator for the facility will be delivered soon and work on exterior sheathing/blocking and interior framing are moving forward as planned. The roofing system is coming along in conjunction with sheathing and will eventually feature more layers of materials before the asphalt shingles are applied, likely by mid-September. Interior framing on the lower level and its associated overhead mechanical rough-in are being actively worked now and the same process will commence on the upper level by early September.
Allowances were carried in the bid documents for hazardous material abatement based on the hazmat survey that was conducted during the design phase. This $10,750 credit represents a reconciliation between the estimated quantities and the actual verified quantities.
The Fire Chief identified that compressed air is required in the workshop but was not called for in the original bid documents. The cost is for the additional piping and labor to extend from the nearest location. This item will result in an added cost of $802.20.
This change includes additional electrical provisions that the chiefs identified to be necessary but not included in the base contract scope including controls for the Apparatus Bay overhead doors in the dispatch room and outside receptacle at the sallyport. This item will result in an added cost of $3,024.02.
The Fire Chief requested that an additional 7 lockers be provided. It was determined that these lockers would fit without need to modify the locker dimensions. The added cost includes the cost to furnish and install the lockers and the added electrical outlets. This item will result in an added cost of $9,531.13.
As a supplement to the pushbutton inside the building, it was determined that an optical receiver should be mounted in the direction of the apparatus bay driveway apron so that the emergency pre-emption can be activated from an emergency vehicle departing from the fire station as well. This item will result in an added cost of $1,284.55.
National Grid offers certain rebates and incentives for energy efficient equipment and lighting in new buildings. As such, the TA has worked with our National Grid representative to apply for any and all available programs. Our applications will be reviewed against building specifications and we will be informed what is eligible and what the rebates may bring.
The Town Accountant and the TA are working with all departments on compiling a list of one-time and recurring costs that will be necessary to deal with COVID in FY21. The Town received a total Federal CARES Act allotment of about $400,000 and some of that was programmed in FY20. Any funds not spent in FY20, plus the remainder of the allotment, may be spent for COVID-related purposes in FY21. We will first determine if each given item is eligible for the FEMA disaster funding, in which case 75% of the item’s cost will be defrayed by the FEMA funding and the remainder will be picked up by the CARES Act allotment. The Accountant is working with the Auditor to officially transmit our FY21 request to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, for approval to use the specified amount of our remaining CARES Act funding.
At the last meeting, the Board reviewed the list of potential Fall Town Meeting article topics and Mr. Zubricki has revised the document in accordance with the Board’s guidance. He has also produced a first draft of the warrant based upon the items agreed upon to date.
At the last meeting, the Board asked that Mr. Zubricki take all of the various public input concerning the subject draft regulations and incorporate the input into the draft base document so the Board can consider all such input in context. He developed a marked-up draft of the base document containing all public input for the Board’s consideration. He has also now included some examples of local license application forms (which would be included as Appendix A in the regulations). Recommendation: Board discussion with respect to the revised document.
As the Board may recall, we have made several applications for funding to complete a design to raise the Apple Street roadbed in two low spots (on the Southern Avenue end), in order to avoid future tidal storm surge flooding. We have completed the first phase of work on the first low spot, which includes a stream crossing, using Division of Ecological Restoration funding. If the other grant applications are awarded, we will be close to moving into a construction phase next year. FEMA has just rolled out a new grant program called BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities). The program would cover 75% of the construction project and we could apply to the State MassWorks program for the remaining 25%. Thus, it is possible that we could get the project constructed with no Town funding. Both of the above programs are highly competitive and the TA has been following a series of FEMA webinars that highlight key aspects of BRIC. BRIC will be accepting applications this fall and MassWorks will accept new applications next summer. With the Federal system usually working very slowly, the timing of the two may work out well.
I was out of the office, on leave, for a portion of the day on August 20, 2020. This report is available at www.essexma.org on the morning after any regularly scheduled Essex Board of Selectmen’s Meeting.
