MARBLEHEAD — The town is currently waiting to receive a schedule from architects that will lay out the permitting procedure required before any advances are made on the Transfer Station redesign process.
In November, the Board of Health approved the new Transfer Station designs after reviewing a presentation from Director of Public Health Andrew Petty. Among the biggest changes to the current station include changes to the traffic pattern, renovations to the scale house and swap shed, and the addition of solar panels on all buildings.
The budget for the project was set at $1.65 million dollars, though Board of Health member Joanne Miller said that an additional $200,000 dollars may be acquired due to rising material costs.
“There is a plan to have an additional $200,000 aligned to the budget that is from our waste revolving account,” she said. “I think that’s going to help because, as we all know, there’s been some escalation in costs over this last year.”
The schedule for the permitting period is currently being prepared by Salem-based company Winter Street Architects. During the 10-12 week period, the station will be receiving permits from the town and state that are needed before the construction is put out to bid. Miller says that they have not received the schedule yet, but are pushing for it to be released quickly to speed up the project and get it underway.
“Andrew is working closely with the architects to ask for this scheduling to be prepared and ready with some urgency because we are really eager to get this out to bid,” she said. “I think it’s waiting on this process with the architect, but there is certainly some urgency being conveyed and as soon as we get that, the next steps are going to be happening quickly.”
No major changes have been made to the plans, though Miller stated that keeping and enhancing personal interactions at the transfer station is a priority for the board.
“One of the things we were discussing at a Board of Health meeting was the way people are having transactions. We just didn’t want to lose that engagement,” she said. “We also wanted to have that human touchpoint where if you need to ask a question and talk to someone, they’re right there.”
