THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, April 15, 2022 Page 11 IMPROVEMENT | FROM PAGE 1 way improvements. The Council also approved with a unanimous vote a standalone appropriation of $1,000,000 for the ongoing Devir Park Revitalization project as part of an overall cost of close to $4,000,000 to completely rehabilitate and renovate one of the city's largest recreational spaces. "These are high priority, key projects for the city of Malden and we as city councillors and residents are very grateful to all who have spent so much time and effort on seeing them come to fruition," said Council President Craig Spadafora. At Tuesday's meeting, Spadafora acknowledged that while most infrastructure improvement projects carry a large price tag, the value they carry are not as visible to the public, aside from a project such as park revitalization. "We are essentially burying millions of dollars with our lead water service lines and water main replacements," Spadafora said Tuesday night. "It is not exciting or sexy stuff, but these are vital projects. Down the road we plan on continuing these projects and there are other (funding) buckets we can manage. "It was good work all around to get to this point," Spadafora said. The votes taken Tuesday authorizing the spending all were taken on reports emanating from the Council's Finance Committee chaired by Ward 5 Councillor Barbara Murphy. Due to illness, Councillor Murphy was not in attendance at Tuesday's meeting. Ward 2 Councillor Paul Condon took the lead as Acting Finance Committee chairperson for Tuesday's meeting. Councillor Condon's Ward 2 includes Devir Park so the unanimous vote to okay municipal JOB | FROM PAGE 9 rience. Also, there is additional staff on hand at MHS specifically to assist students in pursuing jobs for afterschool and weekend hours. Regularly, this school year also welcomed the return of special visits and presentation tables outside the lunchtime cafeterias by military branch reps all year round. “We are ready to help our students every day by assessing their needs and assisting them in planning for their future,” Craven said. For more information on services and resources available through the Malden Public Schools Guidance Department, contact Director Erin Craven at ecraven@maldenps.org. ***** bonding for the $1 million appropriation was well-received after he introduced the report. Condon explained that close to two-thirds of the total Devir Park rehab project cost had already been covered by grants in hand and future expected grant funding. "It's been a long road and we are very excited about this project and thankful to all who have helped make it possible," Councillor Condon said. "This is a very important vote." The $1 million city appropriation to buttress the funds already committed to Devir Park will come in the form of bonding/borrowing of the funds. In the other votes, Councillors approved: — $445,000 in expenditures from the water-sewer retained earnings fund for lead water service line replacement. — $3 million to be borrowed from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) Lead Service Line Replacement Program, which comes with 0 percent interest over a 10-year period. The two largest commitments of funding were for: — $5 milllion in bonding/borrowing over a 30-year period for roadway improvements that will be made citywide. — $5,683,300 to be borrowed from the MWRA Local Water System Assistance Program for designing, reconstructing and constructing water mains. Council President Spadafora noted the intensive continuation of the lead water service line replacement was part of federal mandate for the city of Malden by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Several years ago it was determined Malden had one of the largest counts of lead water service lines in Massachusetts — 2,500 still exist and issued a The MassHire Metro North Workforce Board provides oneon-one and group work-readiness and career development guidance to youths ages 14–24 who live in the Metro North Region. Some of the services they offer: • Career and Education Assessments that help solidify your future: Job Search Tips that help get you noticed, job application guidance that helps to put your application in the YES pile, Résumé and Cover Letter Writing assistance to help you catch an employer’s attention. • Interview Preparation and Mock Interviews to help you interview with confidence. For more information on MassHire and the Metro North Workforce Board, contact Grace Evans at gevans@masshiremetronorth.org. Here’s to our patriots WE’LL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, APRIL 18TH FOR PATRIOTS’ DAY. WE HONOR THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD AND PAVED THE WAY FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE. AS ALWAYS, YOU CAN ACCESS OUR ATMS AND ONLINE BANKING ANYTIME. 419 BROADWAY, EVERETT MA 02149 Right by you. 61 7-38 7 - 1 1 10 7 7 1 SALEM ST, LYNNFIELD, MA 01940 7 8 1 - 7 7 6 - 4444 WWW.EVERETTBANK .COM Member FDIC Member DIF Paul Condon Ward 2 Councillor directive for the city to replace about 100 of them per year. Malden had been replacing between 125-150 lines per year, significantly exceeding the directive. "With this funding, and with more expected funding from the federal level with the help of Congresswoman (Katherine) Clark and ARPA (American Rescue Plan) funds, we are hoping to get into the range of 200 per year," Ward 6 Councillor Stephen Winslow said, referring to the citywide projection. Councillor-at-Large Carey McDonald pointed to the scope of the funding votes and praised all involved as well. He also noted that the lead water service replacement only include from The Malden City Council committed more than $6 million in municipal funding to an ongoing major project of replacing lead water service lines citywide. More than 1,000 have been replaced, about 2,500 remain. (Courtesy Photo) the city-maintained street to the private property marker. Private homeowners and property owners are legally required to foot the cost of replacing the lead lines on their own property, available through ongoing city-maintained assistance programs that provide very low-interest loans that help homeowners pay for the replacements. "I hope our residents know what a big deal this is," Councillor McDonald said of the lead water line replacement project. He urged residents to check the list posted on the city website (cityofmalden.org) of known lead water lines and said testing was available as well, "There are great programs available from the city of Malden to help assure residents they can have clean, safe drinking water," Councillor McDonald said. In the 9-0 votes that approved the projects' funding, voting in favor were Council President Spadafora, Councillors Peg Crowe (Ward 1), Condon (Ward 2), Amanda Linehan (Ward 3), Stephen Winslow (Ward 6), Chris Simonellli (Ward 7), Jadeane Sica (Ward 8), Karen Colon Hayes (at large) and McDonald (at large). Councillors Ryan O'Malley (Ward 4) and Barbara Murphy (Ward 5) were not in attendance Tuesday night.
12 Publizr Home