Melrose Select Board Awards $2.94 Million Main Street Reconstruction Contract to Aller Excavating

MELROSE — April 18, 2024 — Melrose Select Board awards $2.94 million Main Street contract and accepts a clean 2023 audit. The board unanimously approved a bid from Aller Excavating for the Main Street and First Street South reconstruction projects at a combined $2,936,429.53, with work expected to begin May 6. Auditor Justin Nason of ABDO reported an unmodified opinion with no findings, a general fund balance running above the city's 35-to-50-percent policy target, and all four Enterprise funds — water, wastewater, electric, and ambulance — posting operating receipts above costs. Building permit valuations have already reached $24.5 million in 2024, up sharply from $1.8 million at the end of the first quarter, driven by a permit for Stearns Electric's new headquarters. The board also approved a $1,500 annual stipend for the five-member HRA board and authorized a purchase and development agreement with Carson Industries for a phased expansion into the city's Industrial Park Northwest.