AI-generated transcript of Medford Eversource 06-01-22

[Unidentified]: Hi, everybody. How are you doing? Coming in from your side.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I just wanted to come on. I'm in budget meetings, but I wanted to come on and just say hello and maybe give you an introduction. Are we letting people in?

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: In a few minutes, yeah.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: OK, so nobody's in right now.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: No, it's just City staff and I think Jana from Eversource is also here.

[Tim McGivern]: With us? I don't think she's with us, is she?

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: She was. I think she might be having trouble with her computer, because I've let her in twice and then she drops out.

[Owen Wartella]: OK.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: But I don't see her on the waiting room list.

[Owen Wartella]: That's weird, because I was told that somebody else was going to be joining from Eversource.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: I saw Rob Collins was here also. I let him in and he left. But Jana has come in twice and dropped out without saying anything. Okay, I can let people in whenever you want. If you're ready, I can.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Well, I'm just going to introduce city staff and thank them for their work and working with Eversource to try to get some real answers on the project. And we wanted to have this meeting, even though it's not all great news, we wanted to have this meeting to be transparent and open and get concerns and feedback on timeline.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: Yep. Steve, is the bottle over the mayor's left shoulder alcohol?

[Unidentified]: And if so, can you move it?

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: No, no, above one up. It's like a black cylinder. I don't know what it is. I just don't know. Yes. No, move it out of the frame. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I don't see anybody else on the, waiting room list that's staff, either from us or from our source so we can let people in whenever you want. Whoever's here from community media, can you just clarify whether you need to be a co host again. Once I let people in. Kevin cat, you on message them to buy them. All right, well, I'm gonna let people in and make them a co-host, because I think the issue was about the waiting list, seeing our chat. And are we recording? That's why I think I need to make them co-host. I think they record it. But Owen, I'm going to make you the host when I am about to jump off. So can you just make sure it's recording before you start? OK.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Oh, go ahead. Tell me how to pronounce your last name, just so I have it 100%.

[Owen Wartella]: My name?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, last name.

[Owen Wartella]: Yeah, we're teller.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: We're teller. Okay. That's right.

[Owen Wartella]: That's right.

[Unidentified]: A couple of people connect into audio and once they're in, we will begin.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: I'm our own whoever's not speaking in the moment, if you don't mind just keeping an eye on the waiting room. that'd be great.

[Unidentified]: people taking a while to connect to audio but.

[MCM00001445_SPEAKER_13]: Some people who are connecting may have stepped away from their computer while they were waiting to be admitted to the room so

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Gotcha. Okay, well, it's 606, and we don't want to keep anybody too long, but we want to thank everybody for being on. I'm the mayor. I am in budget meetings, but I wanted to come and say a quick hello and let you know why we set this meeting up and introduce you to some city staff. We have Tim McGivern, who's our commissioner of public works. We have Owen Mortella, who is our new city engineer. We have Todd Blake, our director of traffic and transportation, and Amy Ingalls, who is also a traffic engineer. This team, Jackie's Communications, and I know we might have a representative from Eversource. This team, as well as the chief of police, has been working with Eversource, especially as of recent, to really try to pull some firm, timelines so that we can provide them all to you. And we wanted to do that, not because it's great news necessarily, but that we want to be open and transparent and let you know the good, the bad and the ugly and get some feedback. Let us know what your concerns are. And most importantly, give us your input on potential options for timelines on this project. We did expect this project to be done last year, but the way it's looking, we have quite some time to go and we want to be honest about that. And I just wanted to let you know that I've been in as many meetings as I can, but this team here, the city staff is working to make sure that this project is done safely, as quickly as possible. And we're making sure that it's done right. So with that being said, I'm going to pass it on over to Owen and Tim to get us started a bit. And thank you for being here.

[Owen Wartella]: Thanks for being here. I'm going to share my screen and hopefully you guys can see this.

[Unidentified]: Recording in progress. Can you guys see my screen?

[Owen Wartella]: Yes, great. Okay, so I just wanted to first say hello. My name is Owen Witella. I'm the city engineer and I'm here with Tim McGivern and also with some of the Eversource staff and we're just basically going to walk through where the Eversource project is to date in regards to the city of Medford and what the timelines for these projects are.

[Unidentified]: So

[Owen Wartella]: So this is the overview of the project. Basically, this is a redundant line for high power transmission that goes from the Mystic substation all the way through Boston, Boston, Somerville, all of Medford, and Winchester. And the portions that we're going to be talking about is the Medford portion. The green lines are what are depicted as the pipes that are already installed. and the red portions are the pipe that is remaining to do the trench work and the piping and splicing. So they have completed from the Winchester line down to Victory Park, and then from around Lawrence Street down to Whittier has also been completed. And then from around 307 Winchester down to the Mystic Valley Parkway, it's still to be done. They've been doing some trench work in this area. And the South Street portion has been completed up to where South Street meets Main Street. This portion still needs to be completed. And then from the police station down through the Somerville line has already been installed. So this is an overview of basically depicting what works, what's remaining for trenching and mitigation activities. Say trenching work, we mean excavating, digging out the ledge, putting in the trench support system, then putting in the pipe and then backfilling. And the backfilling will then have a temporary patch of pavement that'll usually last upwards to three months. And then they come back and do some milling and overlaying. So they'll basically scrape off the top layer of the street and then repave the final street as being. So the first zone, I just wanted to basically we're going to take a look at this in chunks of like sections at a time, because each section has a different timeline. So the first section of the zone is from the Winchester line down to Lorain Road. And the scope for this work is to do the wheelchair ramps first, and then to mill for between September and October this year, and then to mill and pave a little bit later this fall. From Lorain Road down to Victory Park, Eversource plans to do the air ramps and sidewalks or any type of curbing that is with that project between September and October of this year and from Lorain Road down to the high school of milling and paving. And come back next year and work its way down from the Medford High School down to Exeter. For the Badger Road area, this is the area that still needs some trench excavation and pipe installation to be done. The plan is to do that over the summer, to basically come through, dig the trenching, go through the ledge, put in the pipe, and then backfill, and then put a temporary patch on it, and that'll be this summer. then next year they'll come back with the wheelchair ramps improvements and then milling and paving and overlay. And then from Lawrence Road to Whittier Road, this is going to be kind of in conjunction with the Badger Road once they finish the the work on with the trench work that would continue with the trench work up through Whittier Road. From Mystic Valley Parkway to High Street, this trench is also going to need to have some installation, which is going to include trench excavation, pipe installation, and the temporary paving. And they will do that this year between June and September. And then next season, they'll come back after the three-month waiting period, and they'll come back and mill and overlay. And this is basically saying the same thing, but on the top side from the circle up to 307 River Street. And I apologize, I'm losing my voice already, so Timmy may have to jump in here. So. South Street to one of Main Street is the last little portion that needs to be completed. This is night work that is actually happening. This is due to Traffic concerns, basically it's a busy intersection and we're trying to do this work at night. There should be completed this summer with the trench excavation and piping installation. and they've basically moved almost all the way out of South Street and they're trying to get onto Main Street and finish up that last little bit. And then next year, during the summer months, they're gonna come over and they'll basically do the wheelchair ramps and the milling and the paving. From there, there's a portion from Main Street down to the Medford VFW. Basically, There's two scopes, which is most of this run has been complete. It's only wheelchair ramps and then the milling and paving that needs to be completed. And this is scheduled for next year. Then from the VFW down to Harvard Street, this pipe has already been placed and has been backfilled. So this milling and paving work will be done next year. and it'll be in portion from the VFW down to Harvard Street. And then from Harvard Street down to the Somerville line will also be next year. So the following sections, that was basically just an overview of the pipe trenching work and mitigation process. After the pipe goes through, there are going to have to do some pipe proofing, which is basically a vacuum test. And then they'll pull and basically see if the pipe they placed is good to hold the conduit. And then basically they'll pull the cable through and do some splicing. Now this type of work won't necessarily have as much impact to the roadways. These are, it's not like the whole roadway is gonna be torn up. These are basically trucks centered over the manholes. Some of the operations are a little more quiet. Some aren't. Some are like vacuum testing is going to be a little bit loud. But basically the schedule is they're going to start doing this, working our way from the Winchester line down again. The forecast is from November, December to do the pipe proofing. Sometime next April, pull the cable and then in May, to displace it. And it's basically the same process through all of these sections. So for this one, between Badger Road and Lawrence Road, it's going to be a little bit longer February to March than April and then May to June. Again, March to April, April and then June. And then from South Street to 101 Main Street, they're going to try to start a little bit earlier, December, January, cable pole in April, and then finish the splicing in June. From 101 Main Street, which is right here, down to the VFW, which is down here, It's more of a January, February timeline than April and June for the cable splicing. FWD onto Harvard Street, they're going to do the pipe proofing in February, come back, pull the cable in April, and then the cable splicing sometime next summer in July. This portion, the pipe proofing has already been completed. In April, they'll pull the cable and then the splice in the end of July. And that's the overview right now. So if you guys have any questions or comments, we'd be happy to do that at this time. And please limit your comments, though, to two minutes, if you can, just so everybody has a chance to speak. And we did want to mention that the Winthrop Street pavement marking, the bike lanes, or the speed table location proposals will be presented and discussed at the June 14th Traffic Commission meeting.

[Unidentified]: Hello.

[Tim McGivern]: I want you to have people raise their hand using the raising hand function. I can keep track of the order that folks raise their hand and see if we can do this in an orderly fashion. There is a representative from Eversource here, if there's a specific question for them. And there is also, I believe I saw someone from McCourt here who is Eversource's contractor doing the trench work. I think I am.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm on a phone call. I'm on a phone call, so I can't raise my hand. Can you guys hear me?

[Tim McGivern]: We can hear you, yes. Actually don't see any other hands up at the moment. If you would like to ask your question now, you can go ahead and do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, please. I am a resident on Mystic Avenue, very close to the fire station. There's probably maybe, I don't know, just a few houses on this end. And last year, I think it was right during COVID, there was a lot of construction going on. So I'm just wondering what the impact will be from my area, and it was very difficult to sleep at night, because some of it went on during the evening. So I'm just wondering if that's going to impact me again in the evening at the same location. I thought that they were done because they paved the whole street, the whole road here is nice and paved. And I see some cones in front of the house, and it says from 7 PM to 5 AM. So my concern is, if it's going to be happening again in front of my door. I just want to know if that's gonna, you know, what the timeline is for that.

[Tim McGivern]: You said the fire station are you near Emerson Street.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm on Mystic Avenue I'm on the corner of mystic and main. There's only there's not a lot of houses where you know in this location, but there are two and I'm one of them. So, it was, it was really tough to go through that so I'm I just want to know what the timeline is for this area, if it's going to happen again, because there's cones out in front of the house. It says from 7 PM to 5 AM, and I work. I had a hard time falling asleep for work. When it was being done last year, or the year before that, whatever, the time is. Anyways, there was construction out here, so I want to know what the timeline is for this area, if it's going to be happening again on Mystic Avenue.

[Tim McGivern]: want to have a sense of it may be handy for us to bring that slide up again, but there is some network plan.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't see me because I'm not on the meeting. I'm on a phone call, so I don't have I understand, ma'am.

[Tim McGivern]: But there are there are quite a number of people who can't see it. So we're going to answer the question for you, but for everybody as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right. Thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: You're welcome. So there is network planned around South Street onto Main Street. So there is some network there. Last year, the network was closer to you. So this year, the network will be farther away from you, if that helps. So, and oh, do I have that correct?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's Mystic Avenue, not Main Street. It's right in the corner of Mystic Avenue and Main.

[Tim McGivern]: Yep, I know what you're talking about. So right where Mystic Avenue and Main meet, is where night work was happening approximately last year near Emerson. This year, the night work is happening closer to South Street on Main Street. So it's near the main mystic intersection, but it's a little bit further away than it was last year.

[Owen Wartella]: It's on the north side of the intersection.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry.

[Todd Blake]: Tim and Owen, if I may, the cones that are out there now with that distinction in front of her house, I believe, I believe she's one of the three houses just south of the gas station. That's related to the pavement marking firm doing that temporary mark out. So that's not related. So any pavement marking work is typically done at night, as you know, from last year when the bus lane was put in, ma'am. And what they were doing just the past maybe two nights ago, they were just pre-marking, so no noise involved. That's related to the signs that you see out there today, I believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right, exactly. All right, so that's not going to happen. I'm just curious to know.

[Tim McGivern]: That will happen, just not at night. And it's going to be relatively quiet.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, well, thank you very much. I really appreciate that.

[Tim McGivern]: You're welcome.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: All right, we will go to Gene Callahan, and I'll go ahead and, oh, she's already unmuted. Hi, Gene, am I saying your name correct?

[SPEAKER_04]: This is Ed Callahan. I live at 496 Winthrop Street, 40-year resident of Medford. I'd like to applaud the city for hosting this meeting, number one, because I believe there's been a lack of transparency on the part of Eversource and the construction company they hired. I'm sure if you traverse Winthrop Street daily, it's a roller coaster. The road is a mess. The upper end of Winthrop Street. I'd like to know how firm this timeline of 2023 is because I saved all the mailings from Eversource back to 2018. And all these documents say the projects would be finished in a year. The last one I got was 2022 as a timeline completion with paving of the road. That's my first question. The second question is, what if any efforts are gonna be made on the part of either Eversource or the city to correct the numerous potholes and divots in the road from the Winchester line past the high school. Because if you traverse past the cemetery into Winchester, the roads are spotless. The construction company that I won't name that was deployed in Winchester was far better than the one that Eversource used for paving. I think it was a hit and miss paving job that Eversource did. And you can see that reflected in the holes and the depressions on Winthrop Street. Thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: Sure. There's two parts here maybe oh and I'll take the first part because it has to do with the history. Okay, you can take the second part. So, guys to the history, you share a concern and a frustration that see the city has the information coming from ever source from the beginning of this project has not been very accurate when it comes to schedule. So that has been a very. unfortunate issue, and we have been extremely frustrated in the engineering and DPW office as well as residents. We have spent a considerable amount of time as Madam Mayor described with Eversource this year. to make sure that the schedule that is presented is clear, and is conservative, so we're even hoping that things go a little bit quicker. So, anyway. Things happen in construction, but you know not to go from a year to three years. So that was unfortunate, but we believe and every source that does have some different folks on the team now and. Our confidence is a little bit higher we've been having weekly meetings and things like that so for what it's worth that you know that's where we stand and as far as the. Condition of Winthrop Street, I'll let Owen talk a little bit about this too, but you know, the idea when this project started was that Winthrop Street already sort of was, you know, ready to be resurfaced when they began and the city made what we believed was the correct move to say, well, let's wait until that resource is complete because they're they'll be refinishing the road. So here we are, instead of one year later, it's three years later. But the idea would be, especially the section of road that we're talking about here, Winthrop Street, will be resurfaced, at least a significant portion of it this year. So hopefully that gives you a little bit of confidence and some light at the end of the tunnel here. I don't know if Owen, maybe I answered the whole thing, but if you have anything to add.

[Owen Wartella]: Yeah, I mean, in particular, I think the city has asked that resource to focus primarily on the, you know, high school up to the Winchester line portion to, you know, their intent always was to push the mitigation toward the end after the pipe splicing and everything. And we basically pushed that forward to this season. We want to, I don't think we can all handle another, you know, winter of potholes. idea is basically to get this work, you know, mitigation work, so we at least have a good road to drive on.

[SPEAKER_04]: And just one other quick question. Sure. The city never repainted the crosswalks. So from the high school where the vicinity I live, it's hit and miss crossing the street. The light, the traffic light works sometimes, I think it's working now, but the students that cross the street, there are no crosswalks marked. So that's up and down Winthrop Street. So is there any effort from the city to correct that? Also, I noticed you have some dates to work December through February. I thought work isn't allowed on the streets during the winter, winter sessions, especially if there's snow.

[Owen Wartella]: Correct. So the trenching will not take place during the winter months, but the vacuum testing and other stuff that is underground that doesn't, Doesn't require taking up the roadway can be done. And so that's the, you know, the vacuum testing is what something can be done during the time.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, but there's a lot of work. Is there any effort to rewire those?

[Todd Blake]: Yeah. Yeah, sure. I think Owen just mentioned that as part of the restoration that we're pushing the project to do sooner rather than later includes that northern portion of Winter Street, which would encompass crosswalks and other things like that. So at this time, since it's so close to that timeframe, it wouldn't necessarily make sense to go into the active zones to paint and then just have it repaved later this summer. So that's the plan right now. As Owen said, we're pushing for restoration for that northern portion. So that would be milling, repaving, and pavement markings as well. So we look forward to that as well.

[Unidentified]: Is the professional company doing the paving? That should be a professional company doing it, David, yes.

[Tim McGivern]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_04]: Again, thank you for your time. I hope the completion of this project is done better than the onset work that was hit and miss. Thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: Thank you for your comments. All right, we'll go to Mr. Giglio. Hello, Bill.

[Bill Giglio]: Hi. So, I share the same frustrations as the caller before. I don't know if you can see my screen, my profile screen, but it's a big block in the middle of the sidewalk. That's right at victory park. I've been looking at those curvings for literally three years now. Um, that was in the middle of a sidewalk last Saturday. That's an embarrassment. That's about 20 feet away from the playground. Kids drive their bike out of that playground, up and down that street. Um, I have, I literally have 12 screws in my spine and I, I went over there and moved I've been looking at this. I've been complaining. This has been going on for three years. I don't, I'm not even going to buy into any of your timelines. I'm not even going to think that that's going to happen because like I said, for the last three years, I've had Jersey barriers in front of my house. I've had this, I've had a dug up. I've hit potholes. I've hit that. I've been looking at these curvings and I, I have no faith. So I share the same frustrations as the last guy. But the biggest disgrace to me is this big, big piece of whatever that is granted or whatever curving. that was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk and it's a huge hazard.

[Tim McGivern]: Thank you very much, Bill. We share the frustration as well. Yeah.

[Bill Giglio]: Everybody shares the frustrations, but nothing's evident. Like, you know what? I mean, this is our city, right? I mean, we can't hold them to the fire, their feet to the fire, or no?

[Tim McGivern]: I wish I could show you how much we've been doing that. And we spent hours and hours and days and days and days and weeks and weeks and weeks on this project trying to push this bill.

[Owen Wartella]: Bill, I should have emailed you back with this. I got your comment yesterday, and we passed it on to the Eversource this week.

[Unidentified]: Okay, thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: All right, I'll move to the chat on to see what we got going on in the chat. If there's any questions. Haha, Bill, Winthrop Street is good for milkshakes. That will be over soon. Okay, so someone would like to be called on. She doesn't know how to, he doesn't know how to raise their hand. It's G.O. Hanson.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: That's me, Tim.

[Tim McGivern]: Oh, is it Gay? Hi, Gay.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Hi, I don't have an icon here. It was here and then it disappeared. So I know how to do it, but it's just not here. So I have a few questions to learn more about the status of the project and maybe it'll help everybody.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, go ahead.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: All right. I was wondering, I know the mitigation, the milling and overlaying and reconstruction of the roadways is planned for, you know, the timeline was shown, you know, from the end of this year, I think, and next year. I was wondering, are there any other projects going on where we don't want to pave and then have to repave in So has that been checked by the city?

[Tim McGivern]: Pave and repave?

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: No. Are there any other projects going on so we don't rip it up after it's been paved?

[Tim McGivern]: Oh, that's a good question. So there are other projects going on. So those projects those projects will be complete by the time they do the resurfacing. So there is some sidewalk work going on up near Lorain Road for this project, as well as the subdivisions going in. And then there's also, let's see what else, there's some ramp work happening at Winthrop Circle that will be complete before they're resurfacing. And then as usual, sort of per typical protocol, we try to have a national grid do as much work as possible while the roads are open. So they actually replaced the line in Winthrop Street at this point, two years ago. So the answer to your question is yes, most of it's done. And if it's not done, the plan is that it will be done before the resurfacing.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: OK. The other thing is, in proofing the pipe, what happens if Eversource finds that the pipe is not holding its vacuum and the road is paved? Will they have to open it up again and repave? Or does it make sense to let them complete the proofing and then pave once for everybody?

[Tim McGivern]: That was the original plan, was for them to complete the proofing. and then come back and pave. They've run out of time. Winthrop Street has run out of time. Mystic Avenue ran out of time. they're falling apart. Mystic Avenue can't go another winter season, the sections that we're resurfacing this year without falling apart and actually putting the base of the road in detriment. So with that said, we agree that the ideal sequence would be do the pipe proofing and then do the resurfacing. We're trying to maintain our 90 day trench settlement period. So the trenches are at least settled. So that is something that we don't really want to budge on. So we're not having to repair sinkholes later on that are caused by the project. And you are correct. If there is a failed pipe proofing, then they will have to do some excavation and then rebuild the road curb to curb and all the betterments and niceties that they put in will have to be redone. So it's an extra incentive for every source in their team to get it right the first time.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Right, so I did notice that there wasn't any proofing done during the winter and it sounds like these pipes I didn't know what was installed and what wasn't. Trenches, as someone said, are not being cut in the wintertime, but other tasks could be done. So I guess my overall question, and these are the sub questions to this, what can we do both parties to make this project get done faster overall? Because I think we all want this to be done, so we don't have to deal with any of the traffic issues, the paving issues, any of the equipment issues in here, or the noise. So what can we do to consolidate the schedule and And I was wondering why I hadn't seen any work done since April or before, because, you know, the springtime, the moratorium was lifted, but in the wintertime, testing could be done, the proofing could have been done, reconductoring could be done, things like that. So why can't we compress the schedule and allow them to do that?

[Tim McGivern]: They actually have, they've already started pet proofing. So they started that, I can't remember, maybe Eversource can tell us when they started it, but we have allowed that. started up near the Winchester line so that's that is happening on the pipes that they installed already. What we've been doing with Eversource is we haven't actually allowed their contractor to begin work until now, because we have been working with them on the exact thing that you're bringing up. And the residents are bringing up here at this meeting timeline, we were not happy with the timelines from previous years they didn't satisfy what they said they were going to satisfy. So, we've been really holding them holding their feet to the fire this year not letting them start until we had a clear. understanding of what they're going to do what their obligations are the sections of the the project that won't make it another year that they need to resurface, things like that. So we've been meeting with them weekly since I don't know when we started on but. you know, sometime early spring and winter when they approached us to begin this year. So that's the answer to that question. So we basically weren't allowing the project to begin until we had the information that satisfied us as far as them meeting their obligations to the city.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: So they were allowed to work last winter to do some of that work, the testing and things?

[Tim McGivern]: They were allowed to do pipe roofing. Yeah, I can't remember exactly when, but when they when they approached us to request pipe roofing, we granted it. It has nothing to do with the moratorium.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: All right. So this if they it looks like based on the schedule shown and because it's quick, I needed more time to absorb it. So if they install the pipe, and they need to do the proofing, can they continue and do proofing, testing, reconductoring through the winter, as long as there's no snow plowing needed, because they're not trenching anymore.

[Unidentified]: Correct.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Because we've got to get this done. Correct. Yeah, so we're not, because as residents, this is just taking way too long, and I'm sure they want to get it done too.

[Tim McGivern]: Yep, we've spent a significant amount of time trying to compress the schedule, figure out what they can do over the winter or not. So they will be doing activities over the winter that do not involve opening the road and earthwork.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: OK, can they work longer each day, maybe add an hour to each side so they can add 20% to the schedule and duration?

[Tim McGivern]: That is not up to us. So we have ordinance with work hours and any sort of deviations from that. And also there's the MOU. Any deviations of that go through the chief of police. So there are extended hours requested. And Owen, I don't know, do we have any sort of requests for extended hours yet on this year's work?

[Owen Wartella]: Nothing that has been approved yet because we wanted to have this meeting first to make sure that we, if there's any conflicts,

[Tim McGivern]: I think the point is it's on the table, Gaye. It's certainly on the table. We've made accommodations in previous years with extra crews, increasing timelines, allowing certain things to happen over the winter with the intent of trying to speed this thing up. But their trenching is what takes the long amount of time due to obstructions that they're finding or slow digging at some point they were doing six feet a day or something so that has their their sort of projections on how long it would take to trench were wrong, so. We have, I think. And I think Owen and I agree, they have a much better idea, better schedule, more detailed schedule with some of those contingencies float and a clear critical path identified and what happens if they run into an obstruction and need to push something into another week or something like that. So, we did receive that information prior years, but as everybody I think knows, those schedules were not met.

[Todd Blake]: Okay, I'm an owner if I may, I just wanted to jump in and add to what Tim mentioned. Some of the delay this year was related to the city trying to hold their feet to the fire for restoration that was supposed to be completed last fall. So South Street and mystic app we're supposed to be fully completed last fall and they weren't. So we're trying to work with the Eversource team to get that back up to speed and on schedule.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, I think. In understanding the project, knowing a little bit about it, if the pipes are not proofed and you have to open up the street again, the logic, as Tim was saying, is to pave after it's proofed. because having it rip up again, I don't think anybody wants even to hear or see or have that done. It should be done once, right, the first time and probably should wait and make sure the other projects, if there are any from National Grid or other utilities or water pipes or anything the city has to do to be done before they pave. So we should just pave once and consolidate the schedule.

[Tim McGivern]: That's a description of basically of what engineering does. So that happens in Owen's office, for sure, in my office when I was leading that office.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Right, right. No, that's good. That's good. And how many, so the only way you can improve schedule is by adding more hours per day when, you know, work can be done. And the other thing that was brought to my attention last year was that one of the contractors was forced to move their equipment, not forced to move, but their yard was on the other side of the city. They couldn't leave their equipment overnight and it would take an hour to go back and forth each day. So that's a loss of two hours plus So I don't, I thought that was resolved and hopefully it will continue to be resolved so that they can be as efficient as possible. So it gets done quicker and doesn't affect traffic.

[Tim McGivern]: There's also competing interests there. So just like with the paving and proofing issue that you brought up, that is a competing interest issue. So the competing interests are the doing it the logical way, which you described, or dealing with a road that's deteriorating, and then we end up having to rebuild the base of the road, which those are the competing interests. The city has been very okay with the risk that if they fail a pipe roof, then they'll have to come back and do curb to curb and rebuild the resurfacing that they put in, certainly. That's a risk that the project is taking, and I believe they're willingly taking it. Then the competing interests, Regarding what was the other the other topic that you brought up just now I'm sorry.

[Owen Wartella]: staging and they're actively looking at solutions for this, as we speak, I know that a lot of the intersections around the street. They're trying to find new locations to try to speed up the, you know, the mobilization in the beginning and the ending of it.

[Tim McGivern]: Oh yes, yeah, the competing interest there is that the chief of police is in control of that piece of it including and myself dpw Commissioner. Previous years, there were issues with storing equipment and staging things closer to the site. So year one, we had a whole host of issues associated with that. So the chief with the commission at the time made the decision to have a remote location. So that's how that decision was made. So there are competing interests there. In an ideal world, if we're talking about the most speed on this project, you are correct, but that isn't the only interest.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, so yeah, I'm hoping that by staging efficiently, we keep the two hours extra on, not extra, but don't subtract two hours each day because two out of, it's probably like six hours of actual work is one third of the project. So that can cause huge changes in schedule if you're taking 30% away or 25% away. So that was a concern, because we want to, I think, for me living very near Winthrop circle, and all the traffic that's around there, and for my family and for my, you know, friends and neighbors who live here, getting this done as fast as possible is the best solution. And if they can work longer each day, personally, I don't care if they work at night. If they can do it quicker and get through it, I'll deal with the sleep deprivation and any noise. I know we try to keep our windows closed during the summer with air conditioning and things. But if they can work and get this done faster and quicker to get Eversource out of here, that would be the best thing. Also, how many details or how many locations in the city can they work at one time? And I was understanding we didn't have enough details to help them get this done quicker. Is that a problem?

[Owen Wartella]: The chief is currently giving them three details, two at night and one in the evening. And we're looking to expand those this summer to try to speed things up.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: So during the day, there'll be two or three, did you say? I didn't quite understand.

[Owen Wartella]: During the day and one at night.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Two in the day. So if they had.

[Owen Wartella]: This schedule is based on two during the day and one at night.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: So if they had a third in the day and two at night, could we, you know, basically make this project go 50% faster?

[Tim McGivern]: Not 50%, but it is on the table to add an additional crew. So three-day crews. There are issues with that. Again, there's competing interests there as well. One of them is available details. So the police have X number of details available in any given day. So that is also a police department decision based off of their resources, based off of what they believe is safe. We have had issues when they're working with three crews during the day. So we'd like to avoid those issues. But you are correct, of course. I mean, if they have more crews working, then they will go quicker.

[Owen Wartella]: And to be fair, this isn't the only project in Medford. So you need to make sure that the resources are spread evenly through or for all parties.

[Todd Blake]: If I may, Tim, as Tim is saying, it's a balancing act with even traffic related items, right? So the proximity of the zones to one another also is a factor because as many know, Medford has only so many ways to go east, west, or north, south in certain areas. So if a whole area was taken up at once, it doesn't leave as much room for traffic to be detoured around it or flow around it. So these are some of the considerations as well as noise and things like that.

[CNgTCdqBpp8_SPEAKER_12]: Trying to understand understood, I know that was looked at back in 2019 and even I know some of the streets we talked about maybe having traffic flow down, you know, temporarily, just to make sure this project gets done as soon as possible because having it dragged out. for all parties is, you know, I don't want to have noise and traffic for another two years. I'm hoping this can get done in the next nine months. It should be able to be done everything in the next nine months. It shouldn't be dragged out. And when I say everything, I mean, the roadway restoration is not a critical path item to getting the pipe in and the reconductoring in. So that could be done. To me, that's almost another thing. So if you're doing the roadway restoration and some of the places that you're saying it's competing as you're saying, with the ever source work to get them out of here. They need to get you know the pipe in proofed. the reconductoring, the fluid fill, and energize, you know, from Mystic to Wooburn. And the sooner they can do that and get out of here, I think it's better for all of us.

[Tim McGivern]: Thank you very much. So we're going to go on to some other questions and comments here in the chat, but we do appreciate it, Gay. Thank you very much.

[Todd Blake]: Tim, I just want to mention quickly that for some of that last comment, it may be true, but for others, it may not. So for instance, the restoration work left on South and Mystic is a totally different crew than the work. All the restoration work is a different contractor than the construction crew for Eversworth. So McCourt's doing the trenching, and there's different firms doing the restoration. So as long as other things don't interact, they could potentially do them simultaneously and not impact scheduling.

[Tim McGivern]: Yeah, and I think that was Gaye's point, Todd, is that you have items on the schedule that can happen that aren't on the critical path with different contractors and crews. Like Riley Brothers was working concurrently with McCourt last year in restoration, for example. So the same thing would happen this year. So yeah, we work with Eversource to try to find those concurrencies. All right. OK, let me just go through here. In the city post a projected timeline to the website I believe we're going to post this presentation on the website, what might be the impact for residents driving in the area of South Street and Main Street. Oh, and I think you probably have the best idea for that one this year.

[Owen Wartella]: That's going to be probably minimal. What we're trying to do is basically we're trying to get out into the intersection in Main Street. There are some plates that are right on the, the off ramp from Mr. Valley Parkway, and what they're trying to do is they're trying to get onto Main Street and then basically backfill and trench plates. So that should be coming in the next few weeks. But to get around that corner and make that bend is time consuming. So as far as the traffic impacts, that's about it. We should be doing paving markings and some mitigation of wheelchair ramps in the area as well. But that shouldn't impact roadway or driving impacts.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, based on one of your previous slides, the majority of that work that you just described is at night, so traffic impact should be low. As Owen said, ramps might be day work, and then pavement markings would be night as well. So traffic impacts, that's one of the reasons for doing certain activities at night is traffic's lower, but then you balance that against noise issues.

[Tim McGivern]: All right, next question and there's only a few more here, how many letter placements were done by ever source in or the city. I know we did some of the first year in ever source has done some as they've encountered them. You know, one of the things we double check before we resurface is, is making sure that we get as much out of the ground that we know that is there. So that is something that we do as a matter of course on all projects. Winthrop Street up near MHS is in far worse condition than both Mystic and South. We don't disagree. All right, perhaps use the high school parking lot or cemetery for temp vehicular staging. So, the project has for, I don't know, a couple of years at least been looking for alternative staging areas that are closer to their work, I believe they did look at this one. I don't, I don't believe it was. I don't believe it worked out. MPD details can get sparse with offices unavailable in summer periods. Reach out to Middlesex Sheriff's Department in that eventuality. Well, we do leave that up to the police. So anyway, they're in charge of details, assigning them. So I do believe they have reached out to other sources in the past. And Gina, actually it's Ed, Ed Callion. Do you have another question or is that just left over? You're raising.

[SPEAKER_04]: Just a couple other questions for those of us that live up in Upper Winter Street, the noise factor is a concern, especially working nights. I remember the night they broke a pipe in front of my house. They were here till three in the morning. So ideally with the hot weather and I'm sure my resident neighbors wouldn't want to see people working eight or nine o'clock at night. Second question is, did the city execute a bond with Eversource? Did they put up a bond for damages? And also, you mentioned holding their feet to the fire in this timeline. Were there any fines initiated for, obviously this project has gone on for numerous years.

[Tim McGivern]: No, we didn't reach the point of issuing fines. There is an agreement between the city and Eversource. And so that agreement is what we go towards first. So this isn't a normal permanent job. It's more like a contract job because there's an agreement, a signed agreement between two parties. So that is how it operates. That agreement is what rules. So, you know, If it was just a normal, say it was just a normal utility installation type project, then they're operating under a permit, which is a different scenario. So I believe the agreement is public information, so we can send it to you if you'd like to see it.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: Owen, you wanna make a note to send Mr. Callahan the agreement? All right, I appreciate it. All right, it's just getting close to seven now. If there are any other questions, Owen and I and Todd can take them. And we have, like I said, if there's a specific question for ever since we have, oh, we got Mr. Karen.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: Yes, thank you.

[Tim McGivern]: Hello, Mr. Karen.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: Hello, thank you for having the meeting. All of you involved in presenting it, from the city side approximately a week ago. By the way, I live in the high school vicinity on Winthrop street on the even side. And a few of my neighbors have voiced very valid concerns, but there was a survey company across the street on the odd numbered side of the street, the Northern side of the street about a week ago. And they seem to be surveying somehow beneath the surface of the road. I don't know what they were looking for, but they were going from the high school area up toward Winchester. And I'm wondering if there were any plans for more excavation because this company was out there surveying. That's my first question. The survey work probably isn't related to the episodes project. It didn't seem to be, but I don't know what's under the street on the opposite side. And I don't know what they could be surveying for or what it would result in, in terms of excavation or further disruption.

[Tim McGivern]: Can you, I apologize if you already said this, could you just the location of the survey work?

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: I probably- Well, I'm at 578 Winthrop, but the work seemed to be going from the high school up toward the Winchester line with cones in the street and people with sensors that were going up and down, cones in the street disrupting traffic. I'm not sure what that is, but it is- An infrastructure survey company.

[Tim McGivern]: It may be related to the may be related to this project, one of the things that the city has been pushing for is increased testing, because we believe that one of the reasons why this project was so delayed is because they didn't have their path of pipe clear, so they didn't do enough testing up front. So they may be doing some additional testing, I'm not sure. Maybe Eversource can chime in if they know what's going on there. Otherwise, there's two projects going on in that vicinity north of the high school. One of them is a subdivision project called Mary Kenny Way. It's a big hole in the ground at this point. So there's survey work happening there. I don't think it's the type that you're describing.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: No, I don't think so either.

[Tim McGivern]: And then there's also some sidewalk work going in. But that's again, that's traditional land surveying type layout, survey work, any sort of ground penetrating radar or subsurface utility scanning. I'm not aware of anything happening there that Everswiss is initiating. I get like I get taught.

[Bill Forte]: No, no, we're not aware of anything. I certainly it is related to our work. So I didn't want to leave you hang in town. But now it's not related to our activity.

[Tim McGivern]: Mr. Karen, what I would suggest is call the engineering office in the morning. If there's permits for that work, they should be able to look them up for you to give you an assistant there, some assistance there. It is a public way, so it could be some work that is happening that doesn't require a permit.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: That happens too. Thank you. Thank you. In terms of the project that Mary Kenny Way, will that impact the resurfacing of Winthrop Street, either before it happens or after it happens.

[Tim McGivern]: The idea would be that they have utility connections to make a Winthrop Street and they have some sidewalk work to do. That work has started. So the hope would be that work is complete before the resurfacing happens.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: And did I hear correctly that you're planning or there is a plan in place to resurface Winthrop Street at our end before the end of the summer, am I correct? End of the year, yes. End of the year. Yeah, end of the season. End of the season, okay, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Someone mentioned this to me the other day, someone who drives Winthrop Street, and I hadn't thought of it before, but shouldn't there be some sort of consideration for rate payers who have lived here and suffered for the past three or four years And is there any discussion of that consideration or what it might be? We paid an awful lot for our utility bills this past winter, an awful lot. What about some consideration? The noise, the wear and tear on our vehicles. I leave that out there.

[Tim McGivern]: Yeah, I mean, we hear you.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: Does Eversource hear me? Does that I know you had a rep here from our source does he hear me.

[Bill Forte]: Yeah, directly. Let me take that offline I don't think I'm able to compensate you for inconvenience but I do commit to trying to work with you to minimize the inconvenience that you're experiencing. I know that's not I know that's a little hollow of an offer but

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: It's what they say about talk and the value of talk.

[Bill Forte]: I understand what I'll do, Mr. Karen. I'll try to I'll work with my outreach team. We will get in touch with you. We'll come out and talk to you specifically about the activities that are going on in and near your particular address. And I'll let them work, try to try to engage you in a conversation. Would that be acceptable?

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: I know that some neighbors have claimed damages to their properties. OK. I'm not saying that, I'm saying that the people who have spoken so eloquently tonight and I and others who haven't spoken have suffered for three years plus. What are you gonna do for me and them? I think what we're trying to do- Come to talk, come to talk, I'll make you the best coffee on Winthrop Street.

[Bill Forte]: I'll get some of my folks on the outreach team to come talk to you, I promise. And we might even bring donuts with us as well.

[Tim McGivern]: I will I will add to this Mr. Karen that I think it was 2017 probably negotiations began with ever source to craft that agreement, and in that agreement, there's money that the city gets for improvements that are not included in typical obligations of an energy project. So, the public is receiving. extra benefits in the form of sidewalks, ramps, full curb-to-curb resurfacing. And also, it is worth mentioning that this 115,000 volt line brings redundancy to the city of Medford. So even though Eversource is not a direct supplier of energy to the citizens of Medford, it does reduce the likelihood of you receiving a blackout in the future. So that's You know, that's what we are getting for this project as the public. So just wanted to mention that. If it was just a regular old utility project under their regular old obligations, then we'd be getting this entire headache plus just a strip of pavement to cover their trench and nothing else. So we are getting some benefits, but I understand not as much as suffering for three years. The benefits at the time were suffering for a year, year and a half, something like that. So completely acknowledged, and I appreciate Todd's answer.

[7dpVBOZN8pE_SPEAKER_17]: And I appreciate your answer. And I won't take any more time. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I turn it back to you.

[Tim McGivern]: All right. Well, with that said, I think we got all the questions that people wanted to ask. So last call for questions and we'll wrap it up. And if there's a question that you think of after this or sometime else, then I direct it to the engineering office or the contact information that Eversource provides you as part of the project. All right.

[Todd Blake]: While we're waiting for people to decide whether they want to put up their hand or not, I just wanted to take an opportunity to remind folks on this call, the Zoom call, that we do want to present a pavement marking plan at a traffic commission upcoming meeting. It's currently scheduled for June 14th. So that involves every time we repave a street in Medford, we try to take a fresh look at what we, you know, the possibilities are in terms of painting and safety and things like that. So we do have a proposed plan that we want to bring to the community and that's currently scheduled for June 14 at 5pm.

[Unidentified]: Thanks. All right, Owen, you want to close this down?

[Owen Wartella]: Yeah, that's great. I just want to thank everybody for joining us and thank City members and Eversource and the court for being here. We'll have a copy of the presentation and the schedule, which includes the schedule on the website posted for you. And if you ever have any questions, just please reach out to either me or Tim. Our emails can be found on the website. So if you have any future questions, you know, just let you know that there's a face, you know, behind the... ...or any of your questions for you. And thank you.