There are no City Council meetings scheduled for this week.
The Lincoln-Eliot School Building Committee and Community meeting scheduled for August 16 has been canceled. According to an email from Building Commissioner, Josh Morse, “The City Council approved the site plan and project funds on July 11th, but the City Charter provides for, and requires, a 20-day period after the vote before the action officially becomes effective. This means that our design team from Arrowstreet was able to get started again on moving the design forward last week. This does not impact our project schedule, as we plan for these votes in the late spring such that the delay falls when many people are away on vacation.” The next meeting will be in September.
Riverside Updates: The Liaison Committee meeting planned for August 16 has been rescheduled to September 20 at 8AM (Zoom link). In addition, the blasting of the Recreation Road ledge is now scheduled to start in October instead of September.
19 City Councilors signed onto a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources calling for the strengthening of the new opt-in Specialized Stretch Energy Code by requiring higher standards for all new construction and major renovations. Specifically, the Councilors request the following:
- “Eliminate pathways that allow for fossil fuel combustion (exempting emergency generation). A true net zero building does not allow for on-site combustion of fossil fuels. Electrical pre-wiring is insufficient!
- Restore provisions to minimize embodied carbon in construction. Poor choices of construction materials can weaken and overwhelm gains in reducing operational energy. Embodied carbon is being measured and reduced in new construction in Newton.
- Widen the stretch code coverage to include renovations: to as little as 1,000 sf residential and as little as 20,000 sf commercial.”
MassDOT is hosting a Virtual Design Public Hearing to present the design for the proposed Newton-Weston Bridge Bundle, Replacement, and Rehabilitation at I-90/I-95 Including Ramp G project on Thursday, August 18, 6PM – 8PM, and you can register in advance of the meeting here. The project consists of “replacing and rehabilitating a series of nine bridges at the Interstate 90/Interstate 95. The bridges include I-90’s crossing of I-95 and the Charles River, I-90 over the Worcester Mainline commuter rail tracks just east of the Charles River, and the ramp bridges within the I-90/I-95 interchange itself.” The meeting notice (Chinese, Spanish) also states that a right-of-way is needed for this project.” Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required,” and “MassDOT’s policy concerning land acquisitions will be presented in the hearing.”
This week’s road construction schedule can be found here.