ORDER-2018-45 : Petition of National Grid to install up to 540 feet of 4 inch Plastic Low Pressure main off of the existing 6 inch Bare Steel Low Pressure main on Forest Street down the proposed dead end development on Blueberry Hill Lane as shown on Plan GP-MEL 1188167-17-258, dated 8/1/2017

Transcript (~19 min @ 51:00)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 50:51 Speaker 1: that order passes we have a second order for public hearing this evening 2018-45 petition of national grid to install up to 540 feet of four inch plastic low pressure main off of the existing six inch bear street low pressure main on forest street down the proposed dead end development on blueberry hill lane as shown on a plan gp mel 1188167-17258 dated 8 1 2017. motion to open the public hearing second alderman Medeiros moves that we commence the public hearing relative to that order the motion is seconded by alderman mortimer if there's anybody who wishes to speak relative to this order please come forward if we could have the representative

▶ 51:51 Speaker 1: of national grid come forward please good evening uh my name is sean kilcullen i am a gas operation supervisor at national grid i'll be overseeing this project if it gets approved here tonight the general scope of the project is to extend a new four inch plastic gas main from the existing low pressure gas main on fourth street onto the property at the development on bluebird hill lane and can you describe the scope of the work the duration uh the hours of operation and whatnot please uh the first stage of the project will be to get the new uh pipe off the road on forest street as quickly as possible um we'll be working at the intersection of bluebird hill lane at forest street uh the tie-in will occur on the near side uh the same side as blue hill lane um the hours of operation will probably be between 8 00 a.m and 3 30 i would say

▶ 52:53 Speaker 1: um was there anything else how long will the work entail in terms of uh it would probably take between three to five days um i would anticipate probably three days thank you work on forest street we may call you back in a minute for questions is there anybody else who wishes to speak on this order this practice ellis does the city have anything

▶ 53:21 Speaker 6: to say relative to this one um one item of note is that um and i'm not 100 sure the records that we have from national grid are 100 accurate but our records show that there's plastic mean coming from lebanon street out to a little ways down forest street and then it switches to a cast iron main and it's only a 65 foot section of cast iron and it appears to be in that section where the proposal is to tie in so we're requesting that that 65 feet also get replaced at the same time just to clean that up since we're trying to get through any areas where we're working in and eliminate the cast iron main the only other item of note is that the

▶ 54:07 Speaker 6: um the submittal to the city clerk's office said tying into the six inch bare steel but i think

▶ 54:18 Speaker 1: that's yep so uh the entrance to blu-ray hill lane is right in front of where the cast iron main transitions to bare steel and when the job was created by national grid and initially there was a description made for the job they weren't sure where that entrance was going to be in relation to where the bare steel and cast iron transitioned on forest street so later on when the design was created by engineering and it was mapped they um the the mapping showed that it was actually in front of the cast iron and not the bare steel okay great thank you chair would

▶ 54:51 Speaker 1: entertain a motion to conclude the public hearing portion of discussion second alderman mortimer moves to conclude the public hearing relative to this order the motion is seconded by alderman forbes on the motion all those in favor anyone pose motion passes any alderman have any questions alderman boys out on your plans you're just you're just laying the pipeline in the middle of the street are you connecting to these units or uh the initial portion will be to get off of uh forest street so we're not disturbing the main road there after that um it could pro the rest of the project will probably happen down the road sometime during the winter or during the spring when the uh the units are actually uh built so you'll be coming back to we would be on the property of blueberry

▶ 55:40 Robert A. Boisselle: hill lane off the off forest but you'll be coming back for a permit to go from the street to the

▶ 55:47 Speaker 6: homes now on the next go around so just to clarify that again that the um the petition that was submitted to the city clerk's office it stated that it was for 540 feet of four inch plastic mean but it's really only blueberry hill lane is a private way at this time okay so it's really only for the portion to get it off of forest street into blueberry hill lane once it gets into blueberry hill lane and all those services none of that requires a granted location so this petition is really just for for down at the end but they will require utility permits from the

▶ 56:20 Robert A. Boisselle: engineering division to do the service the final pro the final aspects of the hookup to the uh units here okay thank you thank you anyone else Alderman McAteer-Margolis

▶ 56:30 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: Alderman Forbes thank you mr. president so this project is also like backs up to a school that is primarily serviced with buses transportation it's our CM collaborative I believe leases the building so just to you know mention is there a traffic plan part of this or it tends to be a lot of traffic a lot of drop-off and pickup traffic a lot of children who may have special needs in the area waiting especially in the springtime what's the proximity would

▶ 57:14 Speaker 6: you say is practice to the school it's it's a couple parcels from the school

▶ 57:17 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: right yeah right yeah so in and in terms of your equipment uh will it be remaining there overnight

▶ 57:24 Speaker 1: where will it be uh the most likely location to store the equipment would be on the property at blueberry hill lane um that would be something that we would probably have to work out with the contractor but it's the most likely scenario for where we would be storing the equipment

▶ 57:38 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: um i'm more concerned with the forest street and the actual work of the connection happening there and being cognizant of um and there's also it's also a bus route and you're just sort of budding malden there aren't you where's the malden line i mean it's right further down forest

▶ 57:55 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: street yeah right up the street so will you be notifying malden and their uh the neighbors close

▶ 58:02 Speaker 1: yeah the butter's letters uh we'll be sending out brothers letters just like uh the last project we discuss um so there'll be letters going to uh residents in melrose and malden anyone that would be effect in the affected area okay

▶ 58:17 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: and um you do is there i didn't read through all the conditions but is there a traffic plan included in this uh we didn't specify specifically a

▶ 58:25 Speaker 6: traffic plan but we did say that no detours can be effect during school hours and that access needs to be provided at all times to anybody going to the Ripley school whether it's a bus or you know van or parents picking up or dropping off we recognize that this population of kids requires you know if you pick up right in front of the school has to be right in front of the school so yeah whatever the the accommodation is it has to be there can't be a change of plans in my mind with the way to pick up and

▶ 58:58 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: drop and I think there's also some parking for probably for staff along the forest street side as well so if you could just include that in your reviews

▶ 59:08 Scott M. Forbes: going forward Thank You mr. president Thank You alderman Forbes Thank You mr. president on condition number two I just want a point of clarification I know it said the record stated that there was a 65 foot length of cast iron is that the work that is going to be done on forest street so that's the additional work

▶ 59:23 Speaker 6: that we're requesting it wasn't part of the grant of location request and actually doesn't require grant of location because it's a replacement sure but that would be the additional work so the work that requires the grant is from on the plan from the cast iron main to the side of Forest Street which is probably 20 feet at most yeah and then this additional 65 feet would would still be under the engineering divisions permit but it wouldn't be part of it

▶ 59:50 Scott M. Forbes: okay I'm just looking to see how much of the road would be affected that's all

▶ 59:53 Speaker 6: yeah so 65 feet in length down down Forest Street okay I think we all

▶ 59:56 Scott M. Forbes: established this is a high volume area especially in the morning this is an area where people will cut through to get to Main Street get to Oak Grove it's commuter roadway so obviously public safety is is one of our concerns that we have here it seems like you have a traffic plan in place my concern is with the residents that have been there this project has gone on for 15 plus years 20 years and so the the thing I just want to emphasize in this agreement and I know a lot of these things were mentioned in the first one and it is very detailed which i do appreciate uh when you have work hours for it says in here it's seven to i believe seven to three thirty um just to make sure that you follow those to the letter because we have a lot of idling trucks from the construction crews and from all the different uh people that have been going up on blueberry hill they idle at 6 15 6 30 they're not supposed to start till seven o'clock and if you're a resident of that area it's just one thing after another so um i don't have any doubt that you'll fulfill your obligations here just to make sure that we uh make sure the consideration of the residents that have been there for a long time the other thing i just wanted to take a quick peek at um you said the staging area was going to be i know you said it's on forestry but you're looking to get in the construction area as soon as possible correct yes okay because so that way we can kind of make that more cleaner and then anybody that is going to be using that road wakes is in addition to that being a commuter area for cars it's also people that people walk people jog people ride their bikes just want to make sure that that's all cleaned up as well I think that's that's all I have and then also a you you did mention the letter drops right do you know when this part of the job is going to be taking place because I know you said because of the because of the circumstances you're allowed to work now

▶ 1:01:42 Speaker 6: and not wait until spring yeah because we would slow down the entire Blueberry Hill Lane project because they can't do any other final roadway grading or

▶ 1:01:49 Scott M. Forbes: anything till they get their utilities okay do we have a target date if we say the approval process happens tonight before Christmas before Christmas okay so then these letters will be will be sent out sooner rather than later in these neighborhood meetings would take place as well yes okay we wouldn't

▶ 1:02:02 Speaker 6: typically have a neighborhood meeting for something this small understand but

▶ 1:02:06 Scott M. Forbes: at least the communication will take place that's my concern okay thank you very much Thank You mr. president Thank You

▶ 1:02:17 Speaker 3: alderman medeiros thank you again i see that we have a letter of conditions from the city

▶ 1:02:21 Monica C. Medeiros: engineer dated today um mr o'gara have have you received this list of conditions from the engineering department yes and do you have any issues with any of the items nope no and And Ms. Paracas-Ellis, could you kind of go through this agenda item, this? Sure.

▶ 1:02:43 Speaker 6: I've touched on a few of them already, but the first one is just about the grant of location only being for the portion of the work at the end of Blueberry Hill Lane at 4th Street. Number two just talks about whether they're tying into the cast iron or the bare steel and replacing that extra 65 feet of cast iron that's out there. Number three is the same condition as before meeting to identify the exact corridor with the engineering division number four is the condition about dig safe and marking out all the utilities with DPW as well number five is adhering to the street opening permits and requirements number six is replacement in kind of any disturbed areas so this this applies more so with this project because we're not requiring any major paving at the end of this we recognize that the proponent for Blueberry Hill the end of this project he needs to replace a water main on 4th Street and he needs to pave the area that he's disturbed so that I don't believe was required by the

▶ 1:03:47 Speaker 6: Planning Department to be curb to curb or by the Planning Board I think it's just the portion of the road that he's disturbing but I know he keeps trying to encourage the city to pave the other half of the road at the same time as he paves his half and it's not a terrible idea so we we might look into that um but in this case this is more restoration of sidewalks and curbing and anything you know grass areas anything that's

▶ 1:04:18 Speaker 6: disturbed um we did make a note here about the pedestrian access maintaining pedestrian access and coordinating the police details with the police department um number eight is about saw cutting the trenches and permanent patching daily and again more than 30 days before they do the final patch number nine is the requirements for the

▶ 1:04:42 Speaker 6: thickness of the patches number 10 is replacing any pavement markings 11 is notification at least 48 hours in advance to businesses and residences 12 touches on the work hours and also the items I mentioned before about not impacting any of the school buses or vans or parents dropping off and picking up and not implementing any detours during those school pick up and drop off hours and then 13 is the winter moratorium and the fact that we will allow this work to take place during the winter could just go over the the I'm

▶ 1:05:23 Monica C. Medeiros: not sure if i quite understood something need to be amended between what was submitted to the city clerk on this six inches and do we need to amend this yeah i would recommend that where it says um

▶ 1:05:39 Speaker 6: where it says four inches of plastic low pressure main off the existing six inch bare steel that should actually be changed to cast iron although now they will be replacing that cast iron but at least it'll be accurate for what's existing right now and then also the total length where it's listed as 540 feet the grant is just for this first portion and i didn't have it at a it's not to scale so i didn't have the exact measurement 20 feet if 20 feet okay so if you

▶ 1:06:07 Speaker 6: want to say approximately 20 feet that might be sufficient instead of the 540 feet so instead of

▶ 1:06:14 Monica C. Medeiros: petition petition of national grid to install up to 540 feet we would amend that to be 20

▶ 1:06:21 Speaker 6: approximately 20 instead of up to 540 it would be approximately 20. okay so uh right now i'd

▶ 1:06:25 Monica C. Medeiros: like to make a motion to amend this okay could i just make a suggestion could we make a comprehensive

▶ 1:06:33 Speaker 1: motion to amend that would include all all elements sure so i would move to amend to uh

▶ 1:06:46 Monica C. Medeiros: in to change up to 540 feet to be instead to read to install approximately 20 feet

▶ 1:06:53 Monica C. Medeiros: the first part of the petition additionally I would move to amend to

▶ 1:07:05 Monica C. Medeiros: change in that first sentence the existing six inch barrel steel low pressure mean to change the words barrel sorry bar steel to cast iron and to also to adopt the memorandum the conditions and listed in the memorandum dated December 4th 2017 2000 from Elena Paracas Ellis our city engineer to the Board of Aldermen regarding the proposed conditions and further I would amend the

▶ 1:07:39 Monica C. Medeiros: conditions to make the start time 8 a.m. as mr. O'Gara had indicated in his initial presentation that start that work would start from 8 a.m.

▶ 1:07:51 Speaker 1: Alderman Medeiros has made a motion encompassing all of those points. Second. Motion is seconded by Alderman McAteer-Margolis. Is there discussion relative to the motion to amend? All those in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes. The order as amended is before you.

▶ 1:08:12 Monica C. Medeiros: Sorry. A bit of discussion on the — just the change — we've heard in the news media and everything there's lots of leaking pipes leaking of gas those are pipes that are cast iron generally and that's why we want to change this to plastic is better yeah

▶ 1:08:31 Speaker 6: the pipes that we're trying to replace citywide are the cast iron pipes for the most part there are other materials as well but we replace it we're national grid is replacing those with plastic those are the projects actually the Bobby who was here before have been working on throughout the city so yes

▶ 1:08:50 Speaker 1: okay and and steel how does that steel is also leak-prone pipe it's up to our

▶ 1:08:57 Speaker 1: engineering department when we do replace it but eventually all of it will

▶ 1:09:06 Monica C. Medeiros: be replaced the cast iron and the bare steel okay good well I'm I'm glad to see that we have adopted that change to add the replacement of those feet of cast

▶ 1:09:17 Speaker 1: iron pipes thank you the order as amended is before you is there anything else anyone wishes to add there's no further discussion motion recommend second Alderman Forbes moves to recommend the order is amended motion seconded by Alderman Mortimer Ms. O'Shea could you call the roll please

▶ 1:09:33 Speaker 2: yeah Alderman Vazell yes yes Alderman Forbes yes yes Alderman Inferna yes yes Alderman Lemmerman yes yes Alderman McAteer-Margolis yes yes Alderman Adiris yes yes Oliver Mortimer yes yes Oliver Tramontozzi yes yes Oliver Zwerchow yes yes

▶ 1:09:52 Speaker 1: president Kahn yes yes 10 yes that order passes thank you very much folks thank you so much Elena hey could we move on to communications from his honor the

▶ 1:10:03 Speaker 4: mayor and other city officials please order number 2018-40 an appropriation from parking receipts two nine zero six two dash five nine zero zero zero zero in the amount of twenty eight thousand three hundred sixty dollars to various accounts as set forth within that order will be referred to the committee on