The Select Board met on Wednesday, Sept. 13, with a diverse agenda, including approving projects to improve two major facilities in town as well as an update from Town Planner Rebecca Curran Cutting on the intermunicipality Rail Trail.
The board approved a contract with Foster Architects for $24,200 to fund the refurbishing of windows at the Franklin Street Firehouse. Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer explained that this endeavor is one of many projects needed to improve the building.
“There was initially a proposal to do an override request to fully fund the entirety of that project that was pulled back given the budget cycle not going forward,” Kezer said. “But there are improvements that absolutely need to be made to that building, so these are parts of the project to move forward with.”
The second proposal centered around the approval of a contract with Corolla Roof for more than $1 million in funds to replace the roof of the Department of Public Works and the Police Station.
“This is capital funding from Article 11 last year,” Kezer explained. “This is for improvements to the municipal buildings… We did it in such a way where we have one contract to do both and get a better deal.”
Curran Cutting soon approached the board to give the latest changes and updates on the “Rail Trail Master Plan.” She detailed one change in the Lead Mills property portion of the project, which earlier this year the board had approved $1.4 million for in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“The 75% plan included replacing both bridges. After more discussion with utilities and public safety, it was determined they did not need vehicular access and therefore can simply replace the surfaces and railings to make it universally accessible, which it is not,” Curran Cutting said. “This will allow the funds to further extend the trail improvements in accordance with the master plan.”
She added that this design will now be expanded to include improvements in the West Shore area of the trail, which is known for having obstruction and puddling issues.
In addition to these two major agenda items, the board also voted unanimously to appoint Marblehead High School freshman Niko Vaughn King as the latest student representative for the Task Force Against Discrimination, and announced that it has received three letters of interest for joining the incoming Traffic Safety Advisory Committee.
Lastly, Kezer explained the procedure of formation for an ad hoc Health and Safety Committee. While the appointing of the committee’s two members would normally fall on the Select Board, Kezer suggested an alternative that the board agreed to.
“What I recommend is rather than selecting people by name is to delegate to me the appointing authority so that as different issues come up I can appoint subject-matter experts that best match whatever the matter that we may be dealing with at the time,” Kezer said.