Lynn infrastructure projects planned

LYNN – Many city infrastructure projects funded by the $4 million bond city councilors approved last December have been planned.Seven items on the list fall under Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan’s purview and total roughly $1.5 million. The work includes installing a new flag pole, work on the facade of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) building, replacing the roof at Fraser Field and paying for a portion of the air conditioning project in Veterans Memorial Auditorium.”The air conditioning is substantially completed but not finished,” Donovan said. “There are some minor details to take care of but it works.”An estimated $20,000 of the bond will be spent on installing flag pole on the Essex Street side of City Hall. Donovan said city officials have been using the flagpole in the square in front of City Hall but there have been complaints that it violates flag etiquette, particularly when the American flag is flown at half mast.”We’ll reuse that flag pole at one of the schools,” Donovan added. “I’ll have the new flag pole in by the end of September.”An historical architect must be hired before work can be done re-pointing the brickwork and re-caulking and painting the old wooden windows on the GAR building, Donovan said.”They are not the kind of windows you’re going to take out but they need work” he said.Donovan said $150,000 has been set aside for that project, which will likely be done in the spring.Two hundred thousand dollars is earmarked for new turf at Fraser Field, which went out to bid earlier this week and $390,000 will be used for a new roof.”It’s not cheap,” Donovan said. “It’s a tough roof to keep in shape.”The cement roof that covers the bleachers at Fraser Field is porous and has been plagued by deterioration for years, said. Donovan explained that water seeps in, freezes and pops the surface layer of the concrete off.Work to replace the roof will begin in the spring and will overlap with the baseball season but won’t totally interrupt it, he said.”We’ll work in thirds,” he said. “And they only work 7 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.) and the kids play ball later than that, so noise won’t be a problem. They just won’t be able to use the seating under the work area.”Work on City Hall’s front steps will also be completed in thirds and Donovan said he hopes to get much of it done before the hard winter sets in. Cement beams and girders that support the granite stairs are deteriorating largely due to the rock salt used in the winter to combat ice, he said. Donovan said to get to the inner workings the granite treads must be removed.”It will take a few months ? but it has to be done,” he said.The total cost of the project, including engineering, advertising and contracts is $250,000, he added.Donovan said an assault on a city employee spurred the decision for glass partitions to be installed in the Collectors, Treasurers and Assessors offices.”You can’t walk into a bank anywhere and not see partitions,” he said. “These will be similar to what you see there. They will separate the public from the workers.”He said an irate person threw a fan at an employee, prompting the need for protection. While $75,000 has been budgeted for the project, Donovan said, “I think we can do better than that.”The final work on his list is “miscellaneous repairs at schools,” which includes the clocks and bells at Connery, and the school’s antiquated public address system, he said. That system will be replaced with a digital PA that will be up and running at the end of August.The remaining funds are being spent on park projects including playground equipment for Frey, Magnolia, Gallagher, Cook Street, Sheridan, Sagamore and Clark Street parks, a new roof for the Little League field at Barry Park, and a multi-phase plan for restoring Breed, Frey, Gallagher and Magnolia parks.Public Works acting Commissioner Lisa Nerich and Community Facilities Manager John Moberger are heading up the parks programs. There is also funding for a fiber optics