The Marblehead Housing Authority Board discussed hiring an architect to oversee building projects in the community and possible solutions to resident concerns about package delivery to their homes.
Executive Director Cathy Hoog suggested the hiring of an architect to aid in preliminary design plans for community building projects.
“It would really benefit us to have somebody with the credentials to go through that process,” Hoog said.
The consultant’s expertise would serve to work alongside the Housing Authority on the general design of targeted buildings.
The Board then raised resident concerns about package delivery on the threshold of their exterior doors.
“It’s not a security or inconvenience issue,” said Board member William Kuker. “They are concerned that their packages are being left out in the rain.”
Kuker went down to the Marblehead Garden Center, where, he said, packages could be delivered directly to the community in large, vertical boxes– “about the size of a phone booth, remember those?”–made by Rubbermaid.
But that would present an inconvenience to residents; for some, Kuker said, that’s a long walk.
“They weren’t thinking of their clientele when they laid it out,” he added.
Instead, Kuker suggests that such boxes be distributed all over the community; a solution Hoog worries about for liability issues and that she has addressed with delivery providers. Hoog asked, Would the Board and community consent to being held liable for housing residents’ packages?
“There are options available for containers that lock,” Hoog suggested. “And people get a key. Unfortunately, they’re relatively expensive.”
To Kuker, giving delivery services keys is not the solution, despite residents’ seemingly weak consideration for safety concerns.
“How many keys do you want running out there?” he asked. “Don’t let that uniform fool you. UPS delivery drivers are the best; Amazon are the worst.”