Current (2012) Town Report is available at the Town Hall and on the ...

<strong>Town</strong> of Lee Annual <strong>Town</strong> <strong>Report</strong> - <strong>2012</strong>
tenure as <strong>the</strong> Lee CDC Executive Director ended on June 30, <strong>2012</strong>, because of <strong>the</strong> lack
of funding for <strong>the</strong> position.
Infrastructure, specifically bridges th<strong>at</strong> had reached or were nearing <strong>the</strong> end
of <strong>the</strong>ir 75 year useful life, emerged as a major concern in FY <strong>2012</strong>. A Massachusetts
Transport<strong>at</strong>ion Department (MassDOT) periodic bridge inspection revealed <strong>the</strong> failing
condition of <strong>the</strong> 73 year old Meadow Street bridge over Powder Mill Brook which led
to its closing on March 15, <strong>2012</strong>. MassDOT committed to provide <strong>the</strong> parts for a temporary
bridge <strong>and</strong> to seek funding to construct a permanent replacement bridge. The
<strong>Town</strong> retained an engineer to design <strong>the</strong> permanent replacement bridge, hired a firm to
engineer <strong>the</strong> temporary bridge install<strong>at</strong>ion, <strong>and</strong> alloc<strong>at</strong>ed funding to hire a contractor to
erect <strong>the</strong> temporary bridge by <strong>the</strong> fall of <strong>2012</strong>. Ano<strong>the</strong>r Mass DOT inspection found failing
beams supporting <strong>the</strong> 75 year old Mill Street bridge over Washington Mountain
Brook. Those conditions led <strong>the</strong> <strong>Town</strong> to narrow th<strong>at</strong> bridge.
Energy efficiency remained a priority in FY <strong>2012</strong>. At <strong>the</strong> recommend<strong>at</strong>ion
of our Energy Efficiency Adv<strong>is</strong>ory Committee <strong>and</strong> toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Town</strong> of Lenox,
we <strong>is</strong>sued a joint Request for Proposals <strong>and</strong> chose to negoti<strong>at</strong>e an Energy Management
Services Contract with Broadway Electric Company which will own <strong>and</strong> oper<strong>at</strong>e solar
arrays th<strong>at</strong> gener<strong>at</strong>e about 3,000 megaw<strong>at</strong>ts on each <strong>Town</strong>’s l<strong>and</strong>. Our sites are <strong>the</strong>
closed l<strong>and</strong>fill, <strong>the</strong> wastew<strong>at</strong>er tre<strong>at</strong>ment plant <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong> abutting <strong>the</strong> Massachusetts
Turnpike. We will purchase electricity from Broadway <strong>and</strong>, except for electricity th<strong>at</strong>
will directly power <strong>the</strong> wastew<strong>at</strong>er tre<strong>at</strong>ment plant, sell it to WMECO for credits th<strong>at</strong>
will be gre<strong>at</strong>er than <strong>the</strong> price to purchase <strong>the</strong> electricity from Broadway. Our partnership
with Broadway will produce renewable energy equal to <strong>the</strong> amount of electricity
consumed by our school <strong>and</strong> municipal facilities, stabilize our electricity supply cost,
<strong>and</strong> lower our electricity expense. The project <strong>is</strong> expected to be constructed in 2013
after Broadway reaches interconnection agreements with WMECO <strong>and</strong> we finalize an
agreement with Broadway. Meanwhile, we realized a 20% price reduction, when, <strong>at</strong>
<strong>the</strong> recommend<strong>at</strong>ion of <strong>the</strong> Energy Efficiency Adv<strong>is</strong>ory Committee, we renewed our
contract with Constell<strong>at</strong>ion NewEnergy, <strong>the</strong> endorsed energy supplier for <strong>the</strong>
Massachusetts Municipal Associ<strong>at</strong>ion’s MunEnergy Program, to supply electricity to
school <strong>and</strong> municipal facilities.
On August 27, 2011 Tropical Storm Irene roared through our region felling
trees <strong>and</strong> damaging roads <strong>and</strong> culverts. Through <strong>the</strong> efforts of our Emergency Management
Director, Police Chief Joseph Buff<strong>is</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Superintendent of Public Works Chr<strong>is</strong>topher
Pompi, PE, <strong>the</strong> Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided $46,000 to
mitig<strong>at</strong>e <strong>the</strong> cost of preparing for <strong>and</strong> cleaning up after <strong>the</strong> storm. Chief Buff<strong>is</strong> <strong>and</strong>
Superintendent Pompi worked on ano<strong>the</strong>r FEMA applic<strong>at</strong>ion following a major snowstorm
in October 2011, <strong>and</strong> th<strong>at</strong> effort realized more than $18,650 in ass<strong>is</strong>tance.
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