An end is finally in sight for road work that revolved around Malden, Mass.'s suspended water-main replacement program.
At its Dec. 12 meeting, the City Council voted 8-1 in favor of a $5.23 million bond that will repair 22 streets over the next two years. These streets are the last in a group of roads that were disturbed for water work between 2012 and 2013 but were never repaired after that the completion of the water main replacement.
The bond will be borrowed against the city's Water and Sewer Enterprise fund and, as such, will increase water rates for Malden residents. According to Councilor Paul Condon, the increase will amount to about $24 a year for the average rate-payer.
In the early part of this decade, the city began an ambitious water-main replacement program, which targeted pipes that were around or over 100 years old. The improvements have had benefits, such as reducing the number of "black" or inoperable fire hydrants in Malden as well as reducing the amount of unaccounted-for water in annual assessments with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Unfortunately the program ran over schedule and over budget, causing the council to halt water work until all the roadwork was finalized.
While all of the councilors favored the work, one wanted to see it funded differently. Councilor John Matheson, who was the lone dissenting vote, presented several funding alternatives, including using state funds, money that the city will receive from the Wynn Casino project and a State Revolving Fund Loan taken against expiring debt in 2019.
"Bonding is the easier thing to do ... but it also affects the rate payers," he said. "It's my responsibility as an elected official to advocate for the taxpayers."
Mayor Gary Christenson, who attended the meeting and was asked by Counselor Neal Anderson to weigh-in on the matter, explained that any new revenue sources, like expiring debt and the casino money, will likely be used to reduce the city's structural deficit, as the past several budgets have used an increased amount of the city's reserves in order to avoid drastic cuts.
The remaining 22 streets will be split up over two years and four contracts, the latter of which is done to try to attract more bidders in the hope of reducing the cost for the work. With the boning approval now in place, that bidding process can commence in the hopes of starting the 2018 portion of the work as soon as possible.
