[0:07] Evening and thank you for coming out on

[0:10] a really miserable evening. My name is Dean

[0:14] Charter I'm vice chair of the select board

[0:16] and I'm chairman of the public works building

[0:19] committee. This will actually be a this is

[0:24] a posted meeting of the public works building

[0:26] committee. We have a quorum of our members

[0:30] here present at the table. I'll have them

[0:33] introduce themselves in a moment. And we'll do

[0:38] the presentation, question and answers. And then certainly

[0:42] everybody's welcome to stay around as long as

[0:44] you want with lots of questions we hope

[0:46] there are and at the end of that

[0:50] we'll just be having a brief committee meeting

[0:52] just to set up future agendas and to

[0:56] accept some minutes from our last meeting which

[0:59] was way back in March. So let me

[1:05] just do a brief self introduction as you

[1:09] know who I am and other committee members.

[1:14] We will start with Tom if you just

[1:15] want to introduce yourself. Hi everybody I'm Tom

[1:19] Beach and I'm the assistant town manager. Mike

[1:22] Harris public member. Adam Noldy a member of

[1:26] the Finance Committee and Land Stewardship Committee for

[1:29] the town of Acton. Corey York the DPW

[1:32] Director. Okay thank you. Let me before I

[1:42] introduce the town manager, let me just give

[1:45] you a little brief background of my own

[1:49] interest in this project which might clarify my

[1:54] passion for getting this thing done. I spent

[2:01] time in the present building from 1972 until

[2:05] 2015. Neither all or part of my day

[2:09] was spent in that building, and I pretty

[2:11] much know every inch of it inside and

[2:14] out. There were a couple of issues which

[2:17] we'll be discussing in more detail but I'll

[2:22] give you my own personal experiences that I've

[2:24] had with it in the years that I

[2:25] was there. Air quality issues were terrible in

[2:30] the building. Constant infiltration of diesel fumes and

[2:35] everything else coming from the work areas and

[2:38] into the office areas. And frankly, the ventilation

[2:42] for the folks in the workshop was awful

[2:44] as well. One amusing thing happened years ago

[2:48] was that the highway department pick up the

[2:50] occasional roadkill, and they throw in the back

[2:53] of the dump truck and bring it back,

[2:54] and eventually it would be disposed of. Well,

[2:56] one time they picked up a dead skunk

[2:59] and parked it outside the building and went

[3:02] in for lunch. Of course, that was right

[3:04] by the air intake for the entire office

[3:05] area. So they cleaned the office area out

[3:09] pretty well. So air quality is was a

[3:13] constant problem. There's been discussion about the wisdom

[3:18] behind keeping equipment inside as opposed to outside

[3:21] and we'll get into that in more detail

[3:23] but I'll give you one example of why

[3:26] it's worthwhile keeping in equipment in a secure

[3:31] climate resistant enclosure. In my watch in 1990

[3:38] we purchased a brush band at 100 brush

[3:40] chipper. Expected life on those in normal operations

[3:44] about fifteen years. It was finally sold two

[3:49] years ago traded in still in operating condition

[3:53] thirty years of service. That's how much longer

[3:57] a piece of equipment will last if it's

[3:59] properly properly maintained and properly secured from the

[4:03] elements. I don't know we still have them

[4:06] down there but for a number of years

[4:09] we had a bunch of nineteen eighty seven

[4:11] Mac dump trucks which are still operation. So

[4:13] that's one of the rationales that I have

[4:18] for wanting to keep equipment properly safe and

[4:21] secure. Employee recruitment and retention. In my career,

[4:31] we had a number of opportunities to hire

[4:33] female groundskeepers and tree climbers. And we were

[4:37] able to get some very good ones. But

[4:39] frankly, it's really tough, hiring female workforce which

[4:43] is an increasing portion of the workforce in

[4:47] the green industry if there are absolutely no

[4:50] facilities whatsoever for women and no room for

[4:52] them. No lockers no showers. So that's a

[4:57] tough situation. And finally there's been discussion about

[5:02] does engineering really need to be in that

[5:04] building? You know can't you just rent some

[5:06] space somewhere else and have them work remotely?

[5:12] Engineering was in that building from 1969 when

[5:15] it opened until 1987 when we moved them

[5:17] up here when we renovated Town Hall. I

[5:20] worked alongside them for those years. They stayed

[5:25] either in Town Hall or over the Red

[5:27] House for a number of years and a

[5:28] couple of years back 2020 they moved back

[5:32] down to to public works and the increase

[5:37] in efficiency and command and control was breathtaking.

[5:42] The difference, having the opportunity for an interface

[5:47] between engineering and the folks that are actually

[5:50] doing the work really increased the efficiency. When

[5:54] you look at the very modest amount of

[5:57] space we're talking about from the engineering department,

[5:59] I think it's will pay many benefits. So

[6:04] those are just a couple of my war

[6:06] stories. I've got plenty of them if you've

[6:08] lots of time. I will kick it over

[6:11] to the town manager. Thank you, Dean. I'm

[6:20] John Mangioradi. I'm the town manager. I've I've

[6:23] worked here for six years, more than six

[6:26] years, actually, and, this is a subject that

[6:28] was discussed early on, when I arrived here.

[6:32] Thank you to Dean's leadership of this effort.

[6:35] Thank you to members of the billing committee.

[6:38] It's it's been a lot of work to

[6:40] get to where we are now. I'm also

[6:41] gonna introduce members of the project team. I

[6:44] wanna thank members of the audience that are

[6:46] here. There's about, 20 maybe people here. There's

[6:49] eight or nine people watching from home, and

[6:52] hopefully, people will also watch this, later when

[6:55] it's recorded. Just a programming note, if you

[6:57] are at home, there'll be a point later

[7:00] in the session where you can raise your

[7:01] hand, and we'll we'll connect with you, to

[7:04] ask a question or or or have a

[7:06] comment, but not not till, the presentation is

[7:09] concluded. So in addition to the, project, committee

[7:13] that already introduced themselves, we have some staff

[7:16] members that are involved with it. We also

[7:20] have a the architecture and design team is

[7:22] Weston Sampson, who you'll hear from in a

[7:25] little bit. PMA consultants is our project manager.

[7:28] They every every public construction project needs to

[7:31] have three parties. The owner, which is the

[7:34] town, the designer, which is Weston and Sampson,

[7:37] and then the owner's project manager, which is

[7:39] PMA. And their job is to help us

[7:42] work with the architect to make sure that

[7:46] the project is done efficiently and cost effectively

[7:49] and appropriately. So we have a really good

[7:52] team and we have a presentation to talk

[7:56] about what we've done so far. I wanted

[7:58] to also mention that this website has been

[8:04] created actinma.gov/dpwfacility all one word. And so that

[8:11] information about the project including this presentation will

[8:15] be published there in addition to the materials

[8:18] that are already on that web page. So

[8:21] I think before we bring up Weston and

[8:23] Sampson, think actually Dean, we had you programmed

[8:26] to take on the next slide, which gives

[8:29] us some more background, which I think many

[8:32] of you have been following along this project.

[8:34] But many of you this is your first

[8:35] night hearing about it. And so before we

[8:38] dive into the details of design, we wanted

[8:41] to take a few minutes and just talk

[8:42] about how we got to this point. So

[8:44] thank you. Thank you. So you I've explained

[8:57] to you my interest in the building and,

[8:59] you know, why I've been pushing toward towards

[9:02] getting this done. And I think it's important

[9:05] to understand that this is a group effort.

[9:08] It's something that's been embraced by the select

[9:10] board. The, going back as far as 2020,

[9:15] we've always had something to do with this

[9:17] Public Works Building on our short term and

[9:20] long term goal list. And, those are published.

[9:26] They're a guidance document not only for the

[9:29] select board but also for town staff to

[9:31] know what we're moving towards. So starting very

[9:37] early just with a feasibility study then the

[9:41] getting moving ahead on the design of new

[9:45] public works silly prioritizing existing fuel station in

[9:50] twenty twenty two twenty three construction department public

[9:53] works building and then most recently bring the

[9:56] DPW facility project to town meeting in May

[9:59] of twenty twenty five and that's what we're

[10:01] moving ahead with now. The next slide. Yep.

[10:07] So this is what we've done since then

[10:10] in an attempt to secure those goals. We

[10:15] did have a feasibility study, that is all

[10:18] available online. We had a facilities feasibility study

[10:23] committee that reviewed that study and they made

[10:28] their presentation back in October of twenty two

[10:32] basically embracing the conclusions of the feasibility study.

[10:37] And we did some tours of the building

[10:40] we did have subsequent to the feasibility study

[10:45] committee going through and making their recommendation we

[10:48] did go back to town meeting in May

[10:50] of twenty three and '1 point '2 '2

[10:53] million dollars was allocated for the design of

[10:56] the building. Subsequent to that we formed a

[11:00] new committee that you see here which had

[11:03] many of the same members but slightly different

[11:05] focus. We did secure funding to build a

[11:12] new public works fuel depot on the site.

[11:17] The existing fuel depot is basically right in

[11:19] the middle of the site and would create

[11:22] some problems building the new facility, plus which

[11:26] the tanks that were in the ground are

[11:28] close to the end of the service life.

[11:29] So it was going to have to be

[11:30] replaced anyway. So first step is get that

[11:34] piece of infrastructure out of the way and

[11:37] then in July we did embrace this as

[11:40] a short term goal to bring this to

[11:42] town meeting and at this point I will

[11:47] back off and let the experts talk. Thank

[11:49] you. Thank you Mr. Charter. Thank you members

[11:57] of the building committee and the town administration

[12:00] DPW and the public. This is the agenda

[12:04] for what we're going to present tonight. We're

[12:07] going to delve a little bit further into

[12:10] why a new facility is required or needed

[12:12] for the town. Some of the project challenges

[12:15] that we'll face. What are these benefits and

[12:19] opportunities that a new facility will allow? Where

[12:24] we are in terms of what we've completed

[12:26] to date, and that is from the July

[12:28] when we started the schematic design process through

[12:31] tonight. What's left to do in schematic design?

[12:36] And what's the proposed future schedule for the

[12:39] project? Next slide please. So why a new

[12:44] facility? Hopefully everyone's had a chance take a

[12:48] look or visit the facility. I know Corey

[12:52] has offered tours, I'm sure that he would

[12:55] be happy to walk people through to take

[12:57] a look at the facility as it is

[12:59] today. Next slide please. The DPW is the

[13:04] backbone of the community. They are first responders.

[13:09] They are out on the roadways before other

[13:13] first responders can get out on the roadways.

[13:15] So they're out clearing the roads so that

[13:18] the fire trucks, the police department, ambulances can

[13:23] all assist the town. The departments are in

[13:28] the DPWR, the administration and engineering, and these

[13:31] are departments that will be housed at the

[13:34] new facility. The highway department, trees and grounds,

[13:40] fleet maintenance, they repair all the town trucks.

[13:44] The facility would also support other department operations

[13:48] such as cemeteries, recreations, operations, conservation and emergency

[13:54] response. A larger facility could also assist with

[13:58] some town functions such as they do now

[14:03] with hazardous waste drop off day. Hopefully we

[14:06] don't have to have a pop up health

[14:08] clinic like we did during COVID again, but

[14:11] a new facility would assist with that as

[14:14] well. Next slide, please. This slide showing how

[14:19] to dissuade day twenty twenty four. Next slide,

[14:22] please. Again, first responders, some of the functions

[14:26] that are provided by the DPW snow and

[14:29] ice removal, hurricane, windstorm cleanup, removal of road

[14:32] hazards, road repairs, support of other emergency departments.

[14:38] Something to notice that, you know, if there's

[14:40] a blizzard on Christmas Eve, they're out there

[14:43] twenty four hours taking care of the roads.

[14:47] Thank you. Next slide. The history of the

[14:51] facility was, you know, this facility has been

[14:53] on the site since 1970. Know, fifty years

[14:58] ago, or over fifty years ago, another group

[15:00] was sitting here talking about that facility, the

[15:03] size it needed to be. Ultimately, was constructed

[15:07] at 19,000 square feet, although the original recommendation

[15:10] was 36,000 square feet. Total cost $10.62 a

[15:15] square foot. Kind of wish we could get

[15:18] that today. Next slide, please. Why do we

[15:22] need a new facility again? The town, even

[15:25] during the 60s, by the time that 1970

[15:27] facility had opened, the town population had exploded.

[15:31] Number of roadways, miles had increased. It's increased,

[15:34] the population has increased 10,000 since then. The

[15:38] size of the trucks has increased. If you

[15:40] look at a truck from 1970, you look

[15:42] at a truck 2024, they're vastly larger today.

[15:46] They have a larger plow attachment. The building

[15:50] is too small. The number of, and types

[15:55] of equipment has increased as well. So, you

[15:59] know, the small facility has negative impacts in

[16:02] terms of response time, employee safety and training,

[16:06] health and safety of the employees, vehicle and

[16:10] equipment, longevity, and increased maintenance requirements. Requirements. Next

[16:14] slide please. The Dean mentioned indoor air quality.

[16:21] There weren't a lot of codes back then

[16:23] that dealt with stuff that we deal with

[16:26] today. Concerns about health, employee health, indoor air

[16:31] quality is a huge factor. Know, today in

[16:36] this facility, they open the doors, turn on

[16:39] a fan. There's no gas detection there's no

[16:43] automatic ventilation to evacuate poisonous gas from the

[16:47] space there is no HVAC system that keeps

[16:52] and segregates fumes into one area and doesn't

[16:56] allow them to migrate into office areas impacting

[17:00] employee health. It's uninsulated, it's difficult to heat,

[17:07] it's inefficient, structurally it's deficient, it is failing.

[17:13] Next slide please. A of, so you know,

[17:20] a lot of people will say, well, why

[17:21] don't we rehab this building? Why don't we

[17:23] try to work with it? It must be

[17:26] cheaper to renovate this building rather than build

[17:28] something new. Not necessarily. A public works facility

[17:34] is considered by the building code to be

[17:36] a category four structure, meaning it needs to

[17:40] withstand the heaviest and most severe lateral forces.

[17:45] It can't fall down during an earthquake or

[17:49] heavy winds or hurricane. It has to stand

[17:51] because of its vital importance to serve the

[17:53] community as a, you know, for their role

[17:57] as a first responder, similar to a police

[17:59] department, similar to a fire department. In order

[18:03] to get this building to perform in that

[18:06] level category four, the structural improvements that would

[18:10] be required would be cost prohibitive. And at

[18:14] the end of the day, the volume of

[18:16] the building is too small, it's still uninsulated,

[18:19] it would still, it would be a costly

[18:22] renovation that would end up with a building

[18:25] that is inadequate for the money. Next slide,

[18:30] please. Here are some examples of the structural

[18:33] deficiencies. This is unreinforced concrete masonry block, meaning

[18:38] that there's no rebar running vertically through the

[18:42] cells of the block, tying it to the

[18:44] roof structure, tying it to the foundation. So

[18:48] when there's settling, when there's lateral movement, building

[18:52] can fall down. Next slide please. Interior conditions

[18:58] are substandard for the employees. There's inadequate space

[19:03] for training. Top left photo is of their

[19:07] meeting room, muster room, kitchen, conference room. Serves

[19:12] all those purposes, but it's undersized for the

[19:13] number of staff that they have. So they

[19:15] can't train everyone in that room or even

[19:18] half of their staff in that room. They

[19:20] need to do training in the garage area.

[19:22] It was mentioned there aren't any facilities or

[19:24] locker rooms for women. This is a picture

[19:26] of the men's locker room. One shower in

[19:30] the entire building and it's pretty gross and

[19:33] not used any longer. And this is not

[19:36] a reflection on the efforts of the DPW

[19:40] staff to upkeep the building. They have worked

[19:43] incredibly hard to maintain what they have. It's

[19:48] just getting more and more difficult to keep

[19:51] up with it. The carpentry shop again, there's

[19:54] dust, there's noise directly adjacent to admin staff.

[19:59] And we have recycle bins in the lobby

[20:02] of the admin office because there's really no

[20:04] other place for them. Next slide please. This

[20:08] is some pictures of mezzanine storage. Storage is

[20:12] at a premium. These mezzanines were built at

[20:16] some point in time. They certainly don't meet

[20:19] OSHA safety requirements. It's not clear what they're

[20:25] of they're rated for in terms of loading

[20:27] and there's little headroom because they weren't, you

[20:29] know, it's not a true two story space.

[20:33] So you have electrical wiring, lighting and sprinkler

[20:37] piping running at eyesight level on the mezzanine

[20:40] which is dangerous. The stairs are open treads,

[20:44] open risers and they don't meet current code.

[20:47] Next slide please. This is an, you know,

[20:52] again, spaces at a premium. You find room

[20:56] where you can. Clearances are impacted. Ability to

[21:02] circulate through the space is impacted, which is

[21:04] dangerous. There's tripping hazards. There's no room for

[21:11] workshop space, which is kind of jammed against

[21:13] walls, but then directly adjacent to the vehicle

[21:17] maintenance areas. It's very chaotic and they do

[21:21] make do. Space isn't tall enough to fully

[21:25] lift a large vehicle. A large vehicle can

[21:28] be 13 feet from the floor to the

[21:30] dump, top of the dump, and you really

[21:34] need about 20 clear feet of space without

[21:37] interference to get that vehicle up five, six

[21:40] feet in the air, and they can't do

[21:42] that. Next slide please. Storage outdoors is accommodated

[21:49] in temporary shipping containers in a kind of

[21:54] makeshift storage canopy area, which is starting to

[21:58] rip and will need to be replaced shortly.

[22:00] But that's where a lot of the lawn

[22:01] equipment is stored right now. And then other

[22:04] storage is kind of scattered on the periphery

[22:07] of the site where space can be found.

[22:10] Next slide please. This is the interior storage

[22:16] garage. Dean mentioned the longevity of some of

[22:20] these pieces of equipment. The reason that they've

[22:23] lasted this long is because the DPW staff

[22:26] makes a monumental effort to get these vehicles,

[22:30] these very expensive town assets, indoors and out

[22:33] of the elements. They can't get everything inside.

[22:36] This is only 9,000 square feet. So there

[22:39] is kind of like a game of Jenga

[22:42] that takes place every day to stack the

[22:47] equipment, make sure that the equipment that's prioritized

[22:51] for work the next day is in the

[22:53] right spot to get out. But if there's

[22:55] a need to get a piece of equipment

[22:57] that's buried, you may have to move seven

[22:59] or eight vehicles to get that to that

[23:02] piece of equipment to get it out, into

[23:05] the yard. The plows that you see on

[23:07] the top right corner, they they can't be,

[23:10] typically, the best thing to do is, especially

[23:12] during winter snow fighting operations, is to keep

[23:15] the plow on your truck, bring it into

[23:17] a a semi heated space, and you're ready

[23:20] to go. At the end of a storm

[23:23] event, to get the vehicles back inside, they

[23:26] have to drop the plows outside. So keeping

[23:29] that outside, they rust, the hydraulics become sluggish,

[23:33] the hydraulic hoses become cracked, there's increased maintenance,

[23:37] increased replacement cycle and cost. Next slide please.

[23:46] Project challenges. Yes, I want to introduce Stella

[23:51] Donahue, who's a sustainability specialist with Weston and

[23:54] Sampson, and she'll continue the presentation. Hello, So

[24:02] this project involves a handful of challenges. You

[24:06] saw the existing conditions, I'll go over a

[24:10] few main challenges for this project. Next slide,

[24:13] please. So this, the approach for the design

[24:16] is phased so we can maintain the DPW

[24:19] operations during construction. So if you can imagine

[24:22] building a new facility while trucks are maneuvering

[24:26] the existing site, it's quite a challenge. So

[24:29] there's the existing DPW building, there's the salt

[24:32] shed, various outbuildings, and then all that truck

[24:37] circulation from the DPW, but also the transfer

[24:41] station at the south of the site. So,

[24:44] also some large roll off trucks dropping off

[24:48] the the waste coming up that drive, backing

[24:53] into the ramp to dump the waste. So

[24:56] all the while, building a new facility in

[24:59] a phased approach while avoiding having to find

[25:04] a site where temporary facilities can get can

[25:09] maintain the operations during during construction. This allows

[25:12] both to to go simultaneously. So, we've identified

[25:16] this sort of purple hatch at the top.

[25:20] That's where phase one can begin while the

[25:24] DPW can remain operable during the process. Next

[25:28] slide. Another aspect of challenges relates to the

[25:33] energy goals. This town is beautiful and forward

[25:36] thinking, so it is a stretch energy code

[25:39] town. And and moreover, it's a higher tier

[25:43] called the opt in specialized energy code, so

[25:46] it's a stricter set of energy code requirements.

[25:51] They also adopted a bylaw where any new

[25:56] municipal building needs to be fossil fuel free.

[26:00] And this project also anticipates the future fleet

[26:04] electrification. So taking into consider into consideration space

[26:09] needs and the infrastructure required to build that

[26:13] in now so that down the road when

[26:15] fleet turns over to electric, it can be

[26:18] a more seamless process instead of having to

[26:20] totally retrofit that space at that time. So

[26:24] trying to be flexible and forward thinking. Next

[26:27] slide. Another challenge, if you can imagine a

[26:32] conductor for a symphony, we have a bunch

[26:35] of underground systems that need to be coordinated.

[26:37] So your stormwater drainage, managing the stormwater as

[26:42] well as septic on-site, your electric utilities, and

[26:47] this project is also pursuing geothermal wells. I

[26:51] think upwards about 40 wells that have to

[26:54] be 30 feet spaced out in diameter. So

[26:58] there's a whole bunch of different systems being

[27:01] coordinated under underground to make sure everything runs

[27:04] smoothly. Next slide. So a handful of challenges,

[27:10] but that also means there's a whole bunch

[27:12] of opportunity and benefits that can come with

[27:14] the modern new facility. Next slide. Primarily, a

[27:21] new facility would allow for a great improvement

[27:25] to operations in terms of efficiencies, safety, health,

[27:31] occupant health, user comfort. So with the indoor

[27:36] storage, we discussed that can increase the lifespan,

[27:39] greatly reduce the maintenance needs versus being stored

[27:43] outdoors in in New England's weather. Also, the

[27:48] introduction of a wash bay which I'll get

[27:50] into that can help to maintain the equipment

[27:53] to wash off any salt corrosive conditions and

[27:57] also prolong the lifespan of of these very

[28:00] expensive trucks. A new facility would comply with

[28:03] codes and regulations like the bylaw I mentioned

[28:07] and building energy codes and OSHA. There could

[28:13] also be a handful of, spaces in the

[28:17] new building that other agencies in town can

[28:20] use. So meeting space for, board committee meetings

[28:24] like this. John touched on it, but and

[28:29] Dean that this could greatly increase the employee

[28:32] morale, training opportunities, and and pride for, working

[28:37] for the town with the DPW. And then

[28:42] just the simple fact that a new facility

[28:44] could meet the demands of today, but also

[28:46] for the next fifty to seventy five years.

[28:48] Next slide. These are a handful of photos

[28:53] of some example projects that show a more

[28:57] modern today's standard facility. Top top left image

[29:02] there is the training room. So that type

[29:04] of space could be used during storms for

[29:06] storm operations center. There's there's some consideration for

[29:14] renewable energy that we're exploring, like the geothermal,

[29:17] and this facility also will have roof solar.

[29:21] And then the bottom left image, that's an

[29:23] example of indoor fleet storage garage. And running

[29:27] along the right side is mezzanine space. So

[29:30] ample storage, which could be used by other

[29:35] departments in town as well. I believe the

[29:38] DPW currently stores some overflow material for other

[29:43] departments like cemetery and conservation. So, those mezzanine

[29:48] spaces are are, very beneficial for DPW and

[29:52] the town as a whole. Next slide. Here

[29:57] are a few other images of a a

[29:59] modern facility. That center photo on the top,

[30:03] the wash bay. Like I said, this can

[30:05] help to wash off, corrosive salt buildup and,

[30:11] again, prolong the life of these trucks, but

[30:13] it's also a really great benefit for the

[30:16] environment. The runoff gets filtered down and held

[30:20] into a sump and disposed of properly versus

[30:25] it running off into the environment, the landscape

[30:29] around the site, which is maybe what's happening

[30:33] now. And then the bottom right image that's

[30:38] fluid containment. So if there's any spill, it's

[30:41] contained with some curbing. Also minimizing the risk

[30:45] for contamination and spills. Next slide, please. And

[30:52] here's an example at site scale. It's worth

[30:55] noting this is not a flashy building. It's

[30:59] it's designed and built for its use. It's

[31:02] it's rooted in functionality, so it's there's no

[31:07] really frills beyond what it's serving, its purpose.

[31:11] It has high volume spaces for the maintenance

[31:14] to allow those large trucks to be lifted

[31:17] and maintained with ease and efficiency. There's site

[31:22] security and separate visitor and staff circulation. So

[31:28] there's a safety and site circulation and improvements

[31:34] as a whole to the site, to the

[31:36] environment, stormwater management, and really just allowing for

[31:43] a more smooth operational process. Next slide. And

[31:49] another area of opportunity is for Acton DPW

[31:53] to lead by example and really steward this

[31:56] sustainable thinking, complying with the bylaw for one,

[32:01] and improving stormwater, which correlates to the water

[32:05] quality in town. There's also an opportunity to

[32:11] work with Mass Saves rebate program. So by

[32:15] pursuing these geothermal wells and, really maximizing on

[32:20] energy efficiency, there's upwards of $2,300,000 in incentives

[32:26] by running through this program, and that's just

[32:29] for geothermal wells. There's there's other opportunities beyond

[32:32] that. So there's some cost benefits in terms

[32:36] of sustainability, and a facility like this can

[32:40] can also lend to community resilience as a

[32:43] whole. Next slide, please. This next section, I'll

[32:49] give an update on, the work completed to

[32:52] till today, really. So starting in mid July,

[32:56] we conducted a review and confirmation process. This

[33:00] is to confirm the program if there have

[33:04] been any changes since this study a few

[33:07] years prior to make sure we're capturing all

[33:10] the facts and figures. So I I really

[33:14] identify the key drivers for the program as

[33:17] the users, the staff, the visitors, the public

[33:20] interaction, as well as the fleet inventory, so

[33:23] all the the trucks and equipment, trailers. So

[33:28] you we take account of all the administrative

[33:31] staff, the, workforce, any future considerations for vacancies

[33:36] or future growth, and then how that translates

[33:40] to locker room count, parking needs, etcetera. Next

[33:44] slide, please. This is an overview. We confirmed

[33:50] our understanding of the existing site. Just a

[33:52] quick run through here. We have the DPW

[33:55] Building in the salt shed and a few

[33:59] storage buildings and containers surrounding the site in

[34:02] the blue. There's a bit of storage creeping

[34:07] beyond that that's left uncovered in the red.

[34:11] So, all the plows we had mentioned. In

[34:14] the orange is material bins. So, your gravel

[34:17] and loam And then the green kind of

[34:21] running the perimeter of the site and of

[34:24] the building is your parking provisions, which is

[34:29] also interfacing with that that purple dash line

[34:31] which is representing the site circulation. So if

[34:35] you're a visitor coming on to site, you

[34:37] may be fighting with the truck circulation which

[34:42] tends to be quite unsafe and and not

[34:46] ideal. So, it's a bit chaotic. You have

[34:50] few areas of building access in the purple

[34:53] arrows. So those are overhead garage doors. Ultimately,

[34:59] it's doing the best they're doing the best

[35:01] they can but it is a bit choppy

[35:05] site currently. Next slide, please. The review and

[35:10] confirmation, we looked at the existing program, which

[35:16] covers the building but also those areas of

[35:18] storage efforts on-site. So the the building, the

[35:25] storage building, the containers, and all those areas

[35:28] without coverage. In comparison to the proposed program,

[35:33] of course, it is an increase and a

[35:35] bulk of that is the fleet storage garage

[35:38] and a little rationale behind that is it

[35:41] is about three times the size of what

[35:44] you have what they have currently. But the

[35:48] rationale is that there's these two rows on

[35:50] either side of the garage with angled parking

[35:53] and a center drive aisle. So that really

[35:56] helps to improve your response time, the organization,

[36:01] safety, and all the while, minimally conditioned. It's

[36:06] it's not set to this room. It's it's

[36:09] about 50 degrees. And it's it's also the

[36:12] cheapest per square foot space to build in

[36:14] these types of facilities. So it's it's, a

[36:18] major benefit for for not the most costly

[36:23] in terms of a new VPW facility. Next

[36:26] slide, please. So once we confirmed our program,

[36:31] we rolled into a conceptual design shred, which

[36:34] looked at various approaches to a phased building

[36:39] plan. So ultimately, we discussed the benefits of

[36:45] the first phase, including both the fleet maintenance

[36:49] and the fleet storage. So about two thirds

[36:51] of the building can be constructed in phase

[36:55] one. This also allows benefits like using that

[36:59] fleet storage space for temporary shop facilities and

[37:04] then coming back in to complete the building

[37:06] with the phase three. Ultimately, the DPW decided

[37:12] on a preferred alternative. Next slide, please. And

[37:16] I'll just walk us through the process of

[37:18] how this could look. So the image on

[37:20] the left, the maintenance in the wash bay

[37:24] and the fleet storage portion of the facility

[37:28] as well as a canopy off the backside

[37:30] of the salt shed could be built during

[37:33] this time. Also at this time, we would

[37:37] put together a privacy screen along the abutters

[37:42] to help with noise and and headlights. Once

[37:46] the building is demoed during phase two, we'll

[37:50] introduce temporary facilities, so some trailers. And at

[37:54] that point, the little orange box in the

[37:56] fleet storage garage is a represents the the

[38:00] temporary fit out for shop functions. Next slide,

[38:04] please. So with the existing DPW building removed,

[38:10] then the construction can shift to complete the

[38:15] project with the shops, the employee facilities, and

[38:18] the offices and so, the image on the

[38:20] right there represents what a completed facility could

[38:23] look like with with its parking and landscape

[38:26] design as well. Next slide. So during this

[38:31] time, we've also engaged with our engineers, the

[38:35] the site civil group, our environmental group, and

[38:38] industrial group. They've done their wetland delineation, some

[38:42] geotech borings, and test pits. The industrial equipment

[38:46] group has met with the mechanics to inventory

[38:49] their equipment and tools, and they're working on

[38:51] a equipment layout in the schematic floor plan.

[38:56] We also met with, our rep from Eversource,

[38:59] Trevor, and our green consultants, the green engineer,

[39:04] as well as Acton Sustainability Group, our OPM,

[39:09] and the DPW, and we discussed those mass

[39:12] save rebates to better understand what that could

[39:15] look like for this project as well as

[39:17] potential pursuits for elite certification and just overall

[39:21] sustainability goals for the project. Next slide please.

[39:26] And a quick run through of where the

[39:28] building plans are. So again, phase one is,

[39:32] your fleet storage garage in the gray at

[39:34] the top. Purple represents your maintenance base with

[39:38] the wash bay off the end, as well

[39:40] as an office for the mechanics and a

[39:42] restroom facility. This phase is also critical to

[39:46] include our utility spaces. So just to run

[39:49] the building, but also provisions for the geothermal

[39:54] mechanical space. And then just for reference, phase

[40:00] three is outlined where it would go during

[40:02] that time as well as the existing building

[40:04] just to represent how we are we're maintaining

[40:10] a setback from that building so that trucks

[40:12] can still maneuver the existing site while this

[40:15] portion of the facility is being built. Next

[40:17] slide, please. And then phase three includes building

[40:23] out the workshop spaces adjacent to the maintenance

[40:27] and our employee facilities and offices represented with

[40:32] the orange and the yellow. Next slide, please.

[40:37] So here are a couple three d graphics

[40:39] to help kind of understand those those spaces

[40:42] a bit better. The high volume maintenance space

[40:46] is, is dictated by a roof eave minimum

[40:50] height to allow for our overhead doors, but

[40:52] also all the lifts to be able to

[40:55] function all the while, staying clear of any

[40:58] overhead infrastructure like, fire protection, electrical. And because

[41:04] of this high volume space, we also get

[41:06] the advantage of building some mezzanine space over

[41:09] those support rooms on that the far right

[41:12] side. And similarly with the fleet storage garage

[41:17] with that center drive aisle, the image on

[41:19] the right, you can take advantage of that

[41:23] height with the mezzanine that kinda runs, you

[41:25] know, the length of that that back wall

[41:28] And the large room on top of the

[41:30] mezzanine, that is where we're currently locating that

[41:33] geothermal mechanical space. Next slide, please. And these

[41:40] last two images here, the the image on

[41:42] the left shows a typical workshop fit out.

[41:45] It's large enough to pull the truck inside

[41:48] mezzanine space again due to its high volume.

[41:51] It's premium space for without taking up any

[41:55] more footprint. And here, this is this has

[41:59] connection over to the the mezzanine on the

[42:02] fleet storage side. So plenty of storage space,

[42:06] which, again, can be maximized by the DPW

[42:09] as well as some other departments in town.

[42:12] And then I'll walk you through briefly the

[42:15] administration block there on the right. So at

[42:19] the bottom there signifies a public lobby where,

[42:23] admin can interface with visitors through a service

[42:25] window running around the perimeters of the building

[42:29] are private offices and conference rooms. Within the

[42:34] core of the building are the office support

[42:37] areas like file storage, a layout space to

[42:40] look at plans, And then kind of work

[42:44] going toward the workshops in the rear are

[42:47] the employee facilities. So spaces like the training

[42:49] room, the locker rooms. And this this design

[42:53] includes a a dedicated woman female locker room.

[42:58] So, definitely can help improve the appeal for

[43:00] female applicants and then, along the rear with

[43:06] that does not need window access for daylighting

[43:09] are your utility spaces. Next slide please. And

[43:14] John will be closing up the presentation. Thanks,

[43:20] Stella. Next slide please. So what's remaining for

[43:24] the schematic design? We are submitting our plans

[43:29] to our cost estimator and to the OPM

[43:34] on October 4. Each, we expect about two

[43:39] week turn, two to three week turnaround to

[43:42] get the estimate back at which time we'll

[43:44] reconcile the two estimates with each other. The

[43:50] schematic design package will then be submitted to

[43:53] the town which will include schematic level architectural

[43:57] plans, elevations, sections, details, site civil plans, industrial

[44:02] equipment plans. We'll have mechanical fire protection, structural

[44:06] engineering, design narratives, geotechnical report, the schematic design

[44:12] cost estimate, and the sustainable design narrative. Next

[44:16] slide please. What's proposed for the schedule moving

[44:21] forward? Next slide, please. So the goal is

[44:25] to have the design development permitting and public

[44:27] outreach occur next. So that's November of this

[44:31] year through April of next year. We want

[44:35] to have again at the end of DD

[44:37] we'll have another cost estimate done by the

[44:41] OPM and done by our independent cost estimator

[44:45] which time we'll we'll bring the project to

[44:48] town meeting for consideration if the project passes

[44:53] the plan is to have construction occur starting

[44:56] in the summer of of twenty twenty five

[45:00] I'm sorry, pardon me. A backup. We'll finish

[45:03] our construction documents, bid the project in the

[45:06] fall of twenty twenty five, and then anticipated

[45:11] two year construction schedule. A little longer than

[45:14] a typical DPW because of the phasing aspect.

[45:16] So we'll have to have a little bit

[45:19] of time to move between phase one and

[45:22] phase two, bring in temporary facilities, demo the

[45:26] building, and then come back and complete the

[45:28] building in the site. Next slide. And thank

[45:33] you. That's our presentation and we welcome any

[45:37] questions that you might have. All right. Can

[45:53] you hear me? First, I had one thing

[45:56] to say but after seeing the presentation, I

[46:00] have one more thing to say. I had

[46:03] a house renovation a few years back and

[46:07] I thought I had it estimated properly. I

[46:09] didn't. I have a garage that's starting in

[46:13] the fall, houses my little John Deere tractor.

[46:17] It's the smallest diesel tractor. Problem was they

[46:20] needed my garage to do their cutting and

[46:25] staining and everything else. So my tractor was

[46:28] outside. Well, I went out there one day,

[46:32] started up, and I heard a big bang.

[46:35] I have some big black walnut trees. The

[46:38] squirrels decided to store them all under the

[46:40] hood. They took the fan, broke it, which

[46:44] went into my radiator. Got that in to

[46:47] do some work, and they came back and

[46:49] they said, Oh, the nest is in there,

[46:51] and the urine has destroyed your wiring. So,

[46:57] I mean, I can see why you want

[46:59] to put things inside. Not only that, but

[47:01] later in the year, when I finally got

[47:03] it back, and I'm out there snow blowing

[47:05] my driveway, or I should say I wanted

[47:09] to, it was really hard to get it

[47:12] started compared to the old days where I

[47:16] knew I had to get to the train

[47:17] station at 06:20, I'd figure out how much

[47:19] snow we had. I get out there, get

[47:20] into my garage, turned it, started right up,

[47:25] and I'm out there doing the work and

[47:26] getting the work on time. So there's a

[47:29] lot to say about having equipment inside instead

[47:32] of outside. But the one point I wanted

[47:35] to say initially, when I was thinking about

[47:38] this tonight, is I do a lot at

[47:41] our senior center. And I talk to the

[47:43] people there. And back when we were looking

[47:46] at the operational override. I had a lot

[47:50] of people as I'm talking to them said,

[47:53] you know, aren't we redoing the DPW? So

[47:58] we really don't need this operational override? You

[48:01] know, I'd rather spend the money on the

[48:02] DPW site. Now, override passed and now we're

[48:08] looking at where do we find the money.

[48:10] So I'm hoping that the finance committee, the

[48:13] select board, and others list to this and

[48:16] really work really hard to get that school

[48:19] budget down, not up, so that we have

[48:23] the money for the DPW which is necessary.

[48:26] Thank you. I'm sorry. Leo Fodgman, Wright Terrace.

[48:32] Anyone else? Hi, I'm Corinne Hogseth. I live

[48:38] in Indian Village. I had a question about

[48:40] the geothermal and the solar stuff. I'm wondering,

[48:45] I know you don't have a cost estimate

[48:46] yet, but when it comes in, I hope

[48:48] that we can see what kind of a

[48:50] premium we're paying for the green part of

[48:53] it. Thank Yes. And and there is a

[48:57] premium. And there's that's the reason why there

[48:59] are the rebates to incentivize spending extra for

[49:03] that. But there are also paybacks. So that

[49:07] will be included as well. We're proposing closed

[49:11] well for the geothermal. There's two types, guess,

[49:15] closed and open. The close is a bit

[49:17] more expensive, but it's also more environmentally conscientious

[49:20] and I know there's a concern in town

[49:22] for contamination of soils and high conductivity of

[49:28] waterways so that's the reason for that. I

[49:33] wrote down my remarks so I wouldn't forget

[49:36] them or go off script. Hello, Acton friends.

[49:40] My name is Eric Heals. I am 58

[49:42] years old, an Air Force veteran, small business

[49:46] owner, Clock Tower Law, and a long time

[49:49] Acton visitor and resident. In 1975, I first

[49:54] visited Acton when helping family friends move from

[49:57] Andover to Acton's Indian village. In 1983, those

[50:01] same friends moved to Acton's Robbins Park. In

[50:04] 1995, shortly after graduating from law school, I

[50:08] first moved my family to Acton. But we

[50:11] could not afford to buy, so we rented

[50:13] a ranch in West Acton. In 1996, we

[50:18] moved to Marlborough again because we could not

[50:20] afford to buy in Acton, but also because

[50:22] Marlborough High School students at the time could

[50:26] attend the newly expanded Acton Boxborough Regional High

[50:29] School to offset cost of expansion. In 1998,

[50:34] my work resulted in a two year stint

[50:36] in Denver, Colorado, but we returned home to

[50:38] Acton's Minuteman Ridge in February, just before my

[50:42] oldest child entered first grade. Divorce and remarriage

[50:46] resulted in two more moves. And since 2013,

[50:50] Rebecca and I have called 17 Forest Road

[50:53] home. Now I'm going off script. You've seen,

[50:56] three houses to the north of Forest Road

[50:59] on all those overhead slides. Mine is the

[51:03] northernmost one of those three. 17 Forest Road.

[51:08] It's the yellow house with the chainsaw bear

[51:11] out front and the fenced backyard. Together, Rebecca

[51:15] and I have put five children through the

[51:17] AB school system, and our youngest, Freddie, is

[51:20] a senior at ABRHS. I have been a

[51:23] good steward of 17 Forest, and I have

[51:26] been a good neighbor to the DPW and

[51:29] to others. For example, I store a snow

[51:31] a snow plow on my property for a

[51:34] Venezuelan friend who plows for the town of

[51:36] Acton because he is not allowed to store

[51:39] the plow at his condo. Over the years,

[51:42] many vehicles have pulled into my driveway or

[51:45] rung my doorbell looking for directions to the

[51:47] DPW. And while I live across the street

[51:50] from the dump, otherwise known as the transfer

[51:52] station, I have never been to the dump.

[51:55] I much prefer a Marlborough centralized recycling and

[51:58] trash system, which, like school buses, is much

[52:01] more efficient than having thousands of cars do

[52:04] the same task. And in fact, the only

[52:07] time I had been to the DPW is

[52:08] to deliver mail and packages dropped off at

[52:11] my house by mistake. The DPW, on the

[52:14] other hand, has not been a good neighbor.

[52:17] Robins Park families in general and residents of

[52:21] Hosmer Street and Forest Road in particular already

[52:25] bear a disproportionate amount of traffic, especially on

[52:29] Saturday afternoons going to the dump, often speeding

[52:32] at close to twice the posted speed limit.

[52:35] And some of the worst offenders are those

[52:38] who work at or fuel up at the

[52:40] DPW. The majority of residents on Forest Road

[52:44] own dogs, and the lack of sidewalks in

[52:47] the neighborhood combined with the amount and speed

[52:50] of traffic makes walking with or without dogs

[52:53] treacherous. I was a cat person for forty

[52:56] seven years, but our family decided to rescue

[52:59] a stray dog last year. Her name is

[53:01] Piper. We walk Piper twice daily and multiple

[53:04] times per week. We have close calls with

[53:07] Acton bus, DPW, fire, police, and rescue vehicles.

[53:13] When driving on the highway, we were all

[53:14] taught to move over a full lane for

[53:16] cars on the shoulder. We should all do

[53:19] the same thing on neighborhood roads. Recently, a

[53:22] dog was struck by a speeding vehicle on

[53:24] Minot Avenue, and the dog had to have

[53:26] one of its legs amputated. Yet when sidewalks

[53:29] were added to Minot Avenue and Taylor Road

[53:31] A Few Years ago, the entrance to Forest

[53:34] Road from Minot Avenue was inexplicably widened, allowing

[53:39] speeding cars to take that corner even faster.

[53:44] It's also where the sidewalk ends. The proposed

[53:47] DPW construction project will add additional noise, traffic,

[53:51] and danger for already overburdened Robins Park families.

[53:56] So I believe that much more needs to

[53:58] be done for the residents of Robins Park

[54:00] before this construction project starts. The vegetative buffer

[54:04] referred to on the project website has decreased

[54:07] in density and effectiveness every year that I

[54:09] have lived here, most notably due to the

[54:12] twenty eleven October snowstorm and the September 2023

[54:16] microbursts, both of which took out many mature,

[54:20] mostly oak trees. If you lived here, what

[54:23] would you ask for? Sidewalks, narrowing the forest

[54:27] Binaught intersection, planting evergreens such as hemlocks, rhododendrons,

[54:31] or the like on the perimeter of the

[54:33] vegetative buffer, replacing the always on DPW spotlights

[54:37] with motion lights, being a better neighbor. I

[54:41] understand that this project has been in planning

[54:43] for quite some time, but the first direct

[54:46] communication that I received about it was Acton's

[54:49] September eighteenth letter announcing this public meeting. That

[54:53] was eight days ago. I have been a

[54:56] good steward of every property that I've ever

[54:58] owned, and I have been a good neighbor

[54:59] everywhere I have lived. The town of Acton

[55:02] can and should do better. Sincerely, Eric Heals,

[55:07] Actonian since 1995. Thank you. Anyone else? Miss

[55:15] mister Heal, if you could either email a

[55:20] copy of your remarks or or hand them

[55:23] over to us. That's exactly the kind of

[55:26] input that we wanted and I appreciate the

[55:32] fact that obviously we're an industrial operation. We

[55:35] do have impacts on the neighborhood. And these

[55:40] are the same sort of issues that were

[55:42] raised with the North Acton Fire Station. So

[55:45] we worked closely with the neighbors there to

[55:47] try to do whatever we could to mitigate

[55:50] the impact of that facility. And certainly, I

[55:53] hope to do the same with the Public

[55:54] Works Building. Thank you for your comments. Three

[56:02] case sorry. I was hit almost twice on

[56:07] hazardous waste day. Hundreds of cars queued up

[56:11] outside of my house. I was three you're

[56:14] shaking your head no that I wasn't hit?

[56:18] I know what you're Yeah. That's you're saying.

[56:21] Yeah. Today, walking the dog, in the rain,

[56:26] three case bus drivers drove by the case

[56:28] bus drivers, by the way, are the least

[56:30] bad of the offenders. But two of them

[56:32] almost hit me today. And so it's a

[56:35] it's a daily occurrence. I I don't know

[56:37] if this committee is is coordinating with the

[56:39] sidewalk committee. Don't know how you prioritize where

[56:42] the sidewalks go, but if you ever wanna

[56:45] try to take a a left turn walk,

[56:47] walking down Forest to Hosmer or to Whittier

[56:49] or to Forest, man, you take your life

[56:51] into your hands doing that every day. Hosmer

[56:54] is even worse. People drive 50 or more

[56:56] in Hosmer, especially on Saturdays. It's nuts. So

[56:59] I'd invite you to come over to my

[57:01] house on Saturday and watch what it's like,

[57:04] especially around 03:00, four o'clock. And not once

[57:07] since 1995 have I seen the police pull

[57:10] anybody over in any residential neighborhood in Acton.

[57:13] Not once. Come on a Wednesday to see

[57:15] what it's like with the the noise and

[57:17] the construction and the and the speeding. And

[57:19] now you're gonna take half of the trees

[57:22] away. That's what the plan looked like to

[57:24] me, about half of the trees. And it's

[57:26] half of the trees have already come down

[57:28] in that same area since I've lived there.

[57:30] I can see the buildings clear as day

[57:32] from my front yard just as you can

[57:34] see in my house on all those photos.

[57:36] And I first found out about this project

[57:38] eight days ago. Thank you. I just have

[57:56] kind of one general question. Look at Scott

[58:00] Sullivan, a Patriot's room. Understanding the presentation with

[58:06] the gist of it being that the urgency

[58:08] and need to to have this done and

[58:12] seeing all the support for that. What I

[58:15] am confused with is the phased program of

[58:21] doing this over multiple years, which in my

[58:24] mind would increase the cost, probably prevent an

[58:29] urgent response and cause delays on having the

[58:34] facility operate the way it needs to operate.

[58:37] And after going to Planet Fitness every morning

[58:39] and watching a building go up in literally

[58:41] one month over the summertime. I'm not understanding

[58:45] why or or maybe you already have an

[58:48] analysis on if this was built during the

[58:53] warmer months so that there's no snow or

[58:55] ice and things could just be done faster

[58:59] so this could be resolved quicker. I'm hoping

[59:03] in your final analysis that that is a

[59:05] scenario that's presented. Maybe just to respond quickly

[59:14] to that. Mean, we all want the construction

[59:16] to occur as quickly as possible. The purpose

[59:20] of the phase plan is to maintain those

[59:23] operations as best we can. There isn't anywhere

[59:26] in town to move to on a temporary

[59:29] basis and that building is in the middle

[59:31] of the site where we need to build

[59:33] a new facility, a new site, a new

[59:35] parking. So unfortunately, we initially thought we could

[59:40] maybe find an industrial spot where we could

[59:43] relocate the DPW, but there really isn't any

[59:46] place in Acton or in Concord or any

[59:50] in Stowe or any nearby community where that

[59:53] type of facility would could be found. And

[59:57] it would be expensive because of the unique

[1:00:00] needs of the fleet maintenance department. They need

[1:00:03] to fit out a new space completely. So

[1:00:05] the purpose of the phasing itself is to,

[1:00:09] it mainly based around those needs because we

[1:00:11] need to get fleet maintenance up and running

[1:00:14] in a new facility and kind of seamlessly

[1:00:16] transition them and that will maintain those operations

[1:00:20] as best as possible. The building type that

[1:00:24] is most economical for a DPW that provides

[1:00:27] these very long spans, it's called a pre

[1:00:29] engineered metal building. There's always a lag time,

[1:00:34] unfortunately, between the time you can get one

[1:00:37] of those buildings into production. There's a lot

[1:00:40] of review back and forth of shop drawings,

[1:00:43] coordination of utilities, and so forth. So from

[1:00:47] the time that the building is ordered until

[1:00:49] delivered and constructed, there's a pretty significant lag

[1:00:53] in time. We still think it goes up

[1:00:56] faster than a lot of traditional buildings and

[1:00:58] is the most cost effective type of building

[1:01:00] to use for the DPW facility. So I

[1:01:04] do appreciate your concerns and we do try

[1:01:07] to you know reduce the timeline as much

[1:01:10] as possible and phasing does add to the

[1:01:12] timeline I agree. Greg Jarboe, five Cherokee Road.

[1:01:24] To follow-up on the the timing issue. How

[1:01:27] many filed sub bids will this kind of

[1:01:30] construction require? Quite a number. Yeah. Fortunately not

[1:01:35] roofing because that's part of the building package

[1:01:38] itself, but it could be 11. It could

[1:01:41] be yeah. Yeah. The quantities of ceiling tile,

[1:01:44] floor tile, miscellaneous metals, painting, masonry, electrical, HVAC,

[1:01:52] plumbing, fire protection. Yeah. There's a lot. Yeah.

[1:01:54] And that's that's very typical for, this type

[1:01:57] of building. That that I'm aware. I haven't

[1:02:00] lived in town as long as Dean, but

[1:02:03] I've been in Acton since 1978. And from

[1:02:08] '79 to '81, I was a legislative aide

[1:02:11] to a state senator who chaired the state

[1:02:14] administration committee when we got the ward commission

[1:02:18] report about public construction in Massachusetts. And one

[1:02:24] of the things that drives up the cost

[1:02:26] of public construction in this state versus private

[1:02:29] construction is the filed sub bid law. And

[1:02:34] every time you have 11 or more different

[1:02:39] sub bidders waiting for the other guy to

[1:02:44] turn up to do their part, money money,

[1:02:52] you know, goes out the window. So, again,

[1:02:55] if facing this over two years seems prudent

[1:03:01] and we don't have a cost estimate yet,

[1:03:04] but, I gotta believe that one of the

[1:03:06] ginormous cost drivers is gonna be time. It

[1:03:16] it it is and filed sub bids are

[1:03:18] just unfortunately part of the chapter 149 reality

[1:03:21] that municipal projects have to deal with. Yeah,

[1:03:32] I wonder if you could speak a little

[1:03:33] bit to environmental studies soil sampling. You did

[1:03:37] mention core drilling. I assume that's probably for

[1:03:39] the geothermal, but is it also to explore

[1:03:41] whether there's anything on-site that could be ledge

[1:03:44] surprises in other ways? So the geotechnical investigation

[1:03:49] was for the for the kind of the

[1:03:52] structural evaluation of the soil capacity. Not yet

[1:03:56] for the geothermal. We need to bring on

[1:03:58] a well, a test well to evaluate the

[1:04:02] ground capacity for geothermal. For environmental, you know,

[1:04:07] this is a historical fifty year, more than

[1:04:11] fifty year DPW site. It has had past

[1:04:13] remediation. There was a dry well that was

[1:04:17] abated 2,004, two thousand and eight, something like

[1:04:20] that. So we, you know, and we also

[1:04:23] work on a lot of different DPW sites,

[1:04:25] but we are going to perform an environmental

[1:04:30] evaluation. And at least for the initial cost

[1:04:34] estimate, we're going to assume the site is

[1:04:37] gonna be an export site largely. We're gonna

[1:04:40] be removing soil from the site. So we

[1:04:43] have to assume a percentage of that is

[1:04:45] going to be contaminated soil. And we're going

[1:04:48] to do our internal review. We don't have

[1:04:51] to do a full phase one yet. We

[1:04:52] don't have to do a full phase one

[1:04:53] because the town owns the site. But we

[1:04:55] do have to do an environmental assessment. And

[1:04:58] we're gonna, once we complete that, we'll get

[1:05:02] more data and revise our estimate as more

[1:05:05] information becomes available. And so then my follow-up

[1:05:09] question to that would be, what's the timeline

[1:05:10] for that? I didn't see it on the

[1:05:12] recent timeline that was given in terms of

[1:05:15] where it We're performing the environmental now and

[1:05:19] design development will be when we kind of

[1:05:21] investigate further the next phase of design. So

[1:05:25] that's taking place starting November. You're welcome. Well,

[1:05:40] thank you unless there's any other questions, that

[1:05:43] pretty much brings the public presentation to an

[1:05:49] end. Thank you, John. Thank you, Della, for

[1:05:52] a great presentation. Assistant town manager did note

[1:05:59] a website. It's available. And we'll be posting

[1:06:03] all of these documents. This presentation will be

[1:06:06] available online as well. I encourage everyone to

[1:06:12] reach out to all members of the committee.

[1:06:15] I have a stack of my business cards

[1:06:20] where I'd be happy to have people contact

[1:06:22] me directly if you have any particular questions.

[1:06:25] And I know that the town manager and

[1:06:27] the assistant town manager and everyone in the

[1:06:29] design team is eager to hear whatever input

[1:06:32] you've got. The committee has not met since

[1:06:39] March because we had so much prep work

[1:06:42] to do with procuring the project manager and

[1:06:46] the architect. But we will, later on tonight,

[1:06:50] be determining a projected meeting schedule for the

[1:06:54] next few months. And certainly if you would

[1:06:58] like to get any more information, reach out

[1:07:01] to us. Thank you. David? The committee's email

[1:07:07] address is not on the website. I bet

[1:07:11] that's going to get fixed. Thank you. Alright.

[1:07:22] To, committee business for members of the committee.

[1:07:30] Pull up the agenda. First item business we

[1:07:39] do have a set of minutes, which I

[1:07:42] think I've sent out a couple of times.

[1:07:46] The, some of the members were not here,

[1:07:50] for the particular meeting, but we'd like to,

[1:07:54] get these meetings, these minutes reviewed and approved

[1:07:58] so that we can get them posted. Town

[1:08:01] Clerk's office. Mr. Chair, I move to approve

[1:08:04] the minutes of, I believe it's 03/01/2024. Thank

[1:08:09] you. You got a second? I'll second. Okay.

[1:08:14] Moved and seconded. Any comments, questions? Just a

[1:08:19] question. I wasn't present for the meeting, but

[1:08:22] I have read the minutes. Should I vote

[1:08:23] or abstain? I believe. I believe you can

[1:08:30] vote for him. Okay. All in favor of

[1:08:35] accepting the minutes of the March 1 meeting

[1:08:37] please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Thank you.

[1:08:47] We are going to be making a further

[1:08:52] presentation to the select board. I've been pretty

[1:08:55] much updating the select board for every one

[1:08:57] of our meetings. So I will be working

[1:09:03] with the select board chair as far as

[1:09:05] setting aside a time so that we can

[1:09:07] do a more timely update. Again, we talk

[1:09:15] about process receiving input from residents. I know

[1:09:17] some people have reached out already and I

[1:09:21] hope to meet with, I believe it's Alice.

[1:09:25] Thank you. So we can discuss the questions

[1:09:30] that you've raised. I can't hear much either.

[1:09:42] So Nothing came out of the drain that

[1:10:14] I'm talking about. And nine chuckle fulls would

[1:10:17] have a machine with two little, like, fork.

[1:10:20] They took nine bucket loads out of that.

[1:10:22] I thought, now it's that train. Why they're

[1:10:25] so close together? I don't know. What has

[1:10:27] really happened is that years ago, like, the

[1:10:36] driveway, the road got higher and higher and

[1:10:38] higher. And I said to one gentleman, I

[1:10:41] I have to teach my car how to

[1:10:43] jump if we replace this program one more

[1:10:45] time and which really is a fight. So

[1:10:48] now there's a there's a plunge because the

[1:10:52] drain is too high or I'm too low.

[1:10:56] Whatever. I'm in the low spot, obviously. It

[1:10:58] didn't start that way, but it ended that

[1:11:00] way. Whatever. I'm the low spot, obviously. It

[1:11:00] way. So they I'm asking if you could

[1:11:03] build it takes probably an hour and a

[1:11:05] half to build my driveway up up or

[1:11:08] take that drain out so we have you

[1:11:12] you know what I'm saying? I I know

[1:11:14] what you're saying. I'll because everybody now with

[1:11:17] the DPW knows the virgin drain. And the

[1:11:21] engineer, I won't say any more than that.

[1:11:25] I've had many conversations with her. I'm on

[1:11:27] the list, and I said, I guess my

[1:11:30] fear is I'm not gonna live long enough

[1:11:32] to see if oh, you're on the list.

[1:11:34] I said, may I see the list? No.

[1:11:35] Of course not. So my question is my

[1:11:38] first or my hundred and fortieth. So, there's

[1:11:41] no answer. We'll try to get you that

[1:11:43] answer. Yeah. And. I don't have my card

[1:11:47] with me. Apologize. But reach out to me.

[1:11:53] At any time. I'll discuss that. How is

[1:11:58] it be? Can I ask one question? Sure.

[1:12:01] Because I'm literally next door. Yes, you are.

[1:12:04] And that's not a problem for me. I

[1:12:07] mean, the noise sometimes is, you know, puts

[1:12:09] a when the salt when they're using the

[1:12:12] salt thing and that thing backs up. I

[1:12:14] mean, it's it's it and I know they

[1:12:16] have to do that, but I don't really

[1:12:19] have to stand by because I'm on a

[1:12:20] farm and we have to do the same

[1:12:22] thing. It's that big, loud, big, big noise.

[1:12:25] So you get used to it. You get

[1:12:28] used to it. And plus, I'm grateful because

[1:12:30] I wanna be the first person plowed out.

[1:12:32] So that works for me. I'm glad. Yeah.

[1:12:36] No. They I think the people there are

[1:12:37] very, very nice. I think I think part

[1:12:40] of the the site plan that we hope

[1:12:44] will help things for the neighbors is that

[1:12:48] although the building is going to be closer

[1:12:49] to Forest Road than the existing building. We

[1:12:52] hope that it's going to create a a

[1:12:55] a shield for noise and for headlights. I

[1:13:01] know when you wrote to me earlier, you

[1:13:03] wrote to the committee earlier today, today. I'm

[1:13:06] certainly, you know, sound fencing and that sort

[1:13:08] of stuff. Those are the kind of amenities

[1:13:10] that we wanna consider. Well, you know, like

[1:13:13] on the highways, they have fences as high

[1:13:16] as this room. Yeah. Is that to block

[1:13:19] noise or is that Noise. It is really.

[1:13:23] Well, I guess when I see that, when

[1:13:24] I drive on the highways, I'm like, oh,

[1:13:27] fencing. Wow. Well, that's the flip side of

[1:13:31] it. You wanna look at that in your

[1:13:32] backyard? I'm fine with that. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

[1:13:39] I'd rather see that than cars and trucks.

[1:13:41] Great. And plus, I want my deer to

[1:13:44] have a my deer have a track through

[1:13:46] the back. They used to come around through

[1:13:48] my house, and I bought I bought some

[1:13:51] of those solar creepy things. Yep. So now

[1:13:54] they go all the way around the back

[1:13:55] of my house and in between the two

[1:13:58] houses and across the street. I'm like, perfect.

[1:14:01] Perfect. And they mow down across the street.

[1:14:05] Yeah. So then I'll come they don't come

[1:14:07] at all of my property. Alright. But I'm

[1:14:09] not seeing them come through because they're beautiful.

[1:14:12] Yeah. I will I'll follow-up appreciate that. See

[1:14:17] if we can do it. If you, you

[1:14:18] know, at any time, give me a call.

[1:14:20] Give me a call. I sent you pictures.

[1:14:23] I I remember we had the discussion. Yeah.

[1:14:26] Couple of years ago. Videos of them cleaning

[1:14:28] out like, do you mind gonna call it

[1:14:30] a virgin drain? It's never been used. It

[1:14:32] doesn't hurt my feelings. No. I mean, it's

[1:14:36] useless. I'll follow-up. Engineer, how come there's two

[1:14:43] drains here and one is so high that

[1:14:44] no water can go in it? Who who

[1:14:46] designed that? Did you look at it? If

[1:14:48] you did, don't answer the question. Good night.

[1:14:52] Thank you. Thank you very much. Next question

[1:15:13] for the committee is figuring out a schedule

[1:15:18] of upcoming meetings. I don't believe the, the

[1:15:27] estimate is going come back around the October

[1:15:29] 18. And I'm certainly happy to meet as

[1:15:34] often as folks want, but I don't know

[1:15:37] as we'll have a whole lot of new

[1:15:38] information to talk about before then. So I'm

[1:15:42] kind of looking towards the October for our

[1:15:46] next meeting. And I guess the other question

[1:15:54] is, is there any particular meeting night that's

[1:15:59] better or worse for folks? Well, the first

[1:16:02] question I would have is do we know

[1:16:03] that the eighteenth is the date that the

[1:16:05] estimates come back or is that just an

[1:16:07] approximation? It's an approximation that he had commented

[1:16:10] two to three weeks. So that's a two

[1:16:12] week projection. Have to come back. Yeah yeah

[1:16:20] it could be an early November yeah early

[1:16:23] November ish. The third Thursdays tend to be

[1:16:31] open for me. Would the would folks be

[1:16:37] interested for a meeting on November 7. Yes.

[1:16:49] Why don't we tentatively aim for November 7

[1:16:53] for our next meeting and then I'll work

[1:17:00] out a let's see why don't we schedule

[1:17:03] one more after that and Dean just to

[1:17:06] confirm these would be evening meetings 7PM evening

[1:17:08] meetings same setup we can do yeah okay

[1:17:11] and I think you know we could probably

[1:17:16] if Room 9 is available, that would be

[1:17:21] good. Well, this room, I mean Yeah. We

[1:17:24] we may my my recommendation would be to

[1:17:27] stay in here so we can continue holding

[1:17:29] Zoom in a bigger public audience because if

[1:17:31] we do receive any financial estimates back we're

[1:17:35] gonna have a little bit of a crack.

[1:17:36] I think people will be here. Yeah. Which

[1:17:38] is a great thing. Yep. And hopefully more

[1:17:40] people show up every meeting. We'll we'll plan

[1:17:44] on November 7 here in this room and

[1:17:47] then we wanna put another one in at

[1:17:55] the November in case we in case we

[1:18:01] get in let's see I was gonna say

[1:18:04] the twenty eighth but I think that's Thanksgiving.

[1:18:05] Thanksgiving. It's an interesting way to celebrate but.

[1:18:09] Yeah. Not the way I want to celebrate.

[1:18:12] How about the fifth? The fifth, I know,

[1:18:15] I'm not going to be available but I

[1:18:17] could certainly. What are the things from the

[1:18:22] timeline after. I'd be happy to let someone

[1:18:31] else. We can also wait until the October

[1:18:34] meeting and make a. Yeah. Meeting at that

[1:18:36] point. Yeah, let me do that and see

[1:18:37] what. Yeah, I'm just bringing back up that

[1:18:39] time on that to discuss. Okay. So, November

[1:18:43] 7, we'll meet here. And thank you very

[1:18:48] much and we need one more motion. I'll

[1:18:52] move to adjourn. I'll second. Okay, move in

[1:18:56] second to adjourn. All in favor, say aye.

[1:18:58] Aye. Opposed? Substentions? Thank you.

9-26 DPWBC Full Meeting

Transcript