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Mayor presents capital improvement plan to council By Sara Brown
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Shown accepting a citation from Governor Charlie Baker at the city’s Annual Veterans Day celebration last Friday at the Beachmont VFW are are Revere’s Veterans Agent Marc Silvestri, State Senator Joe Boncore and RVC Chairmen Ira Novoselsky, and Al Terminiello, Jr. See more photos highlights on page 11. (Advocate photo by Al Terminiello)
Feasibility study reveals price, plans for new DPW building By Sara Brown
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ayor Brian Arrigo on Monday night announced what many Department of Public Works (DPW) employees and city officials have been waiting to hear for decades: the possibility of a new DPW building. At the Nov. 13 City Council meeting, the mayor shared the results of his DPW feasibility study conducted by Weston & Sampson. “The building is in dire need of work,” he said. “It is not representative of our community.” According to Jeff Alberti of Weston & Sampson, the current DPW building on Charger Street is undersized and does not meet current operations as well as having efficiency and extreme safety issues.
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The city has a multimillion dollar fleet of equipment and vehicles, but the building itself can be a liability. Also, since not all of the vehicles can fit into the building, some are parked outside, which reduces the equipment’s life expectancy. “The current facility is undersized and presents safety issues,” said Alberti. “It also does not meet current building and plumbing codes.” The organization examined three plans for the city to see which would be the most effective in terms of getting a new building. The first plan involves a complete demolition of the building and construction of an entire new building. This plan is expected to cost around $22 million. The second plan involves a partial ren-
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ovation where only some of the building would be knocked down and rebuilt with a price tag of approx. $21.1 million. The final plan involves a multiple phase, 10-year plan that will begin with temporary trailers – renovating parts of the current building and slowly rebuilding at the cost of $25.2 million. The organization recommended plan one, saying it is the most effective and time efficient. The City Council seemed on board. “I like the first plan because it gets it done quickly,” said Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo. Rotondo wondered how long it would take to get a new building once a bid is made. They said about 24 months with a 14 to 16 month construction period. Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky said he made a motion for a new DPW building during the Ambrosino administration. “I feel invigorated that this is finally happening,” said Novoselsky. “They work hard and deserve a decent place to work.” Councillor-at-Large Jessica Giannino said this will probably be the first of many projects
DPW BUILDING | SEE PAGE 7
Friday, November 17, 2017
ayor Brian Arrigo provided the City Council a sneak peek of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) at the council’s November 13 meeting. “We don’t make decisions in a vacuum,” said Arrigo. The CIP focuses on Revere until 2022 and calls for $29.5 million in funding for various projects that include replacing two fire department ladder trucks, fixing the roof at the Lincoln School, a new boiler system at the Beachmont School and opening the Point of Pines Fire Station. The proposal was created by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center, and Arrigo said they will be presenting their plan before the council in two weeks. Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky said he hopes that some of the projects the councillors presented during the year made their way into the plan. “We put in projects we want to see in our neighborhood,” he said. “Many times they go into never-never land and we never see them again. It can be frustrating.” Arrigo said many of the projects the councillors have suggested involve infrastructure, saying the CIP calls for $1.6 million for roadway improvements. Novoselsky said he hopes that some of that money could be used to improve the condition of the public stairs in the city, saying they are in horrible condition, and Arrigo agreed. The city is also planning on giving the Department of Public Works a new building with one proposed plan potentially costing approximately $22 million for a new facility. “I’m go-
ing to make sure the DPW staff has the facilities they need,” said the mayor. Ward 5 Councillor John Powers said that Alden Mills Fire Station is currently in deplorable condition. “It’s been long overdue to get that station in good repair,” he said. Powers said he would like to see that station used during peak times in the year. Arrigo said the city put $1 million away in the plan to upgrade the building but was cautious on whether that would truly fix all the problems the station is dealing with right now. “I’m unsure if we can even salvage it,” said Arrigo. The one big project that was missing from the plan is the construction of a new high school. Arrigo said it wasn’t in the plan yet because the School Department has not heard back from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) on whether or not Revere will make it into their funding pool next year. If so, Arrigo said they will make adjustments to the CIP which could possibly provide $1.62 million in reimbursement from the MSBA. All projects would be paid by the city’s general fund at a cost of $29.5 million between FY2018-FY2022, including $10.9 million in debt-funded projects and $2.1 million in pay-as-you-go funds. Other sources will total $12.8 million with $4 million in Chapter 90 roadway funding, $3.9 million in insurance monies from the tornado and $2.5 million from the school district. The plan was sent to the council’s Ways and Means Subcommittee.
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