Melrose Board Tables Museum Lease, Orders Bridge Cost-Sharing Review

MELROSE — August 17, 2017 — Melrose Select Board tables a historical society lease and advances a revised $3.4 million bridge realignment plan. At the August 17 meeting, the board heard from a church base-building representative who asked for a two-month delay on a lease or property agreement involving a local historical society, saying a preliminary meeting with the society was needed before any decision; the board tabled the matter, allowing it to return in approximately six months. Engineers presented a hydraulic analysis showing a proposed 120-foot northward bridge shift would reduce the structure from 64 to 56 feet wide and from roughly 153 to 145 feet long, with overall construction costs estimated at $3.4 million compared with a prior design estimate of $2.99 million — a difference engineers called within the planning-level margin of error. The board also unanimously approved a prevailing-wage resolution tied to a $1 million state economic development grant. July police statistics showed 99 calls for service, down roughly 20 from the prior year, and the officer flagged school bus stop enforcement as a priority heading into the school year.