This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Capital Improvement Projects Underway in Essex

From renovations at Town Hall to the replacement of the Walnut Street bridge, a slew of projects large and small are underway in Essex. It’s all part of more than $8 million in long-term capital improvement projects approved in December 2014.

Currently, work proceeds apace at Town Hall. Staff in the Land Use Department on the second floor—Building, Health, Zoning, Fire Marshal, and Planning departments—are working out of a temporary space in the auditorium while their offices undergo renovations.

“They’re gutting the whole thing,” said Kelly Sterner, the town’s finance director. “It used to be some strange walls in there. It’s going to be clear, open space: one big, open area. We’re going to create little offices, but they’re going to have a lot of glass so it’ll seem more open.

“We appreciate the patience of the employees who are in the office space until the renovation is complete,” she added.

Richard Riggio and Sons, the company doing the renovations, hopes to finish by mid to late September. Finishing up the Land Use area and the Selectman’s Office will mark the end of Town Hall’s renovation, a project that included upgrades throughout the building. Town Hall also joined Essex Elementary School in gaining a new air conditioning system.

“We’re very pleased with the way that’s come out,” said Sterner of the AC projects. “The company we’re using is terrific and has done a great job.”

At the Public Works Department’s garage, the town just awarded the bid for foundation work on a new four-bay storage building. The 40- by 80-foot metal structure is on order, scheduled to arrive in early September. The building will have electricity, but no heat or running water, and will store the town’s Vacall street sweeper, over-the-rail mower, plows, sanders, and other types of equipment.

“It’s important if we want the equipment to last that it have proper storage,” Sterner said.

Finally, the Walnut Street bridge project is scheduled for June of next year. That may seem like a long time off, but the project is proceeding according to schedule.

“The time lines on a bridge are much longer than you’d expect them to be,” said Sterner, who pointed out that approvals, permitting, and design are the lengthier part of the process. “It’s a long project, but we’re where we should be and pleased we’ll be able to do it next summer. There was some potential it’d be pushed out to 2018.”

As for the budget, “Overall we’re doing really well,” said Sterner. “The elementary school roof was a little more, but we had money contingency and we will be getting the state money back so net cost will come in just fine. We’ve been pretty happy with the bids.”

Federal and state grant money has helped ease the capital improvement projects along their way. Under a federal bridge program, the town will receive 80 percent of the money back for the Walnut Street bridge. The town has also applied to gain about $450,000 back in state funds on the replacement of the roof at Essex Elementary School, a project that was completed last summer at a total cost of $1,738,000.

“Some of them are shorter term, others like the bridge will take several years to complete, but we’re happy with the progress on all of them,” commented Sterner.