City of Salem, MA - Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee Minutes 6/19/2013

Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee Minutes 6/19/2013

Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee

June 19, 2013 – Minutes

6:00pm - SSU Central Campus - Enterprise Center Training Room B

Attendees: Dave Coleman, Jack Hoar, Marcia Lambert, Adria Leach, Shawn Newton, Joseph O’Keefe, Dominick Pangallo, Jim Rose,

Absent: Maureen Call, Jason Doviak, Robert McCarthy, and Josh Turiel

Guests: Leif Lamoray (Leftfield Inc.) & Karen Cady (Salem State University)

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The scaffolding around the former library building is 100% complete. The building is enclosed on all sides by monarflex tarp as a dust control measure. ~
The removal of stored concrete columns from phase 1 will start next week.
The panel and window removal process will begin on the 4^th floor on the North East corner of the building (along Lafayette Street) will start in next couple of weeks. Once the windows on the 4^th floor are out, the contractor will begin the deconstruction as they described at the neighborhood meeting, starting with the cantilever on the Northeast side followed by north side cantilever (next to Meier Hall). After that they will start taking the south side down.~
The building will be deconstructed one floor at a time. The actual deconstruction will not be seen as the work will be covered by the monarflex tarps. The contractors will be using excavators, jack hammering, and cranes to deconstruct the building and dispose of the debris. Once a floor is complete the contractor will take down the scaffolding for that area and move onto the floor below. All necessary precautions are being taken for any hazardous materials.
The contractor expects 5-6 trucks a day for disposal. A police detail will be onsite to manage truck traffic in and out of the site.
The expected completion date for the deconstruction is December of this year.

Construction is progressing. The building is substantially enclosed and should be weather tight by the end of the month. Interior rough in and dry wall is progressing.
The contractor will schedule a second shift from 3 pm to 11 pm for interior paint, duct and electrical work. The purpose of the second shift is to allow the contractor to manage multiple trades in hard-to-access areas that do not allow trades to work simultaneously.

ISSUES IN PROGRESS

The manufacturer was on site on June 4. University representatives walked Charles Street with the manufacturer and identified areas where the lights seemed glaring. Lights that appeared to be shining directly into neighboring properties were adjusted downward.

The project on modular housing has been terminated for the fall of this year. The manufacturer could not meet the established timeline due to a back log of orders.~The university may revisit the addition of modular housing in the spring of 2014 if the demand is still over capacity.

An architect has been selected by the MSCBA board. Rawn Associates will begin working on the location and concepts for the new residence hall. They will present their location and scope for the project at the September SSUNAC meeting. This will not include design, but will be more conceptual.
Test borings will be conducted in the coming weeks in the Peabody Hall and Central Campus parking lots.

NEW BUSINESS

The committee determined that it would not be necessary to hold a July meeting. The city will consult with the university to determine if there are any important issues that need to be addressed at the end of July to determine whether an August meeting will be held.

The university lost an overhead power line along the bike path during hurricane Sandy that powers four buildings on Central Campus, including the Enterprise Center. At the time of the outage, National Grid installed a temporary tap to reconnect the line. They have informed us that they need to make a permanent repair to the line that will require the power to be turned off for an eight-hour period. They have scheduled the work to begin on Friday, June 21 at 10 PM to approximately 6AM Saturday morning. A rain date is scheduled for Friday, June 28 from 10 PM to 6 AM. There will be a minimal amount of noise on the bike path during this time as well as some lights being set in the immediate work area. National Grid informed us that the lights will be directed away from neighboring homes, and the power to private homes should not be impacted
A committee member asked if this work could be scheduled on a Sunday during the day instead of overnight. – Ms. Leach stated that she would look into the request and get back to the committee member.

A neighbor inquired why the Raymond Road Traffic Study was removed from the agenda. He stated that he was upset about the idea of having a one way route on the road and could produce a petition against it. – A committee member responded that there were two separate meetings with the city engineer regarding this topic and a trial period to test the one way direction was discussed.
The trial period for making Raymond Road a one way street was postponed. The city committed to having a neighborhood meeting prior to any testing.
A committee member suggested that the lights at Loring Avenue and Lafayette Street be adjusted before implementing any changes or testing. – The city confirmed that there is a plan to change the timing of the lights. The city added that the installation of the bump outs at the crosswalks around Raymond Road is part of the 2013 paving plan.
A committee member stated that enforcement of traffic laws would help resolve some of the issues on Raymond Road.
The city stated that there would be a separate meeting with the city engineer dedicated to Raymond Road traffic concerns.

DEFERRED ITEMS

MEETING SCHEDULE

The next meeting of the SSUNAC will be determined by the end of July. If a meeting is scheduled for August, it will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in the Enterprise Center Training Room B located on Central Campus at 121 Loring Avenue.