Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee

Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee November 18, 2015 – Draft Minutes Attendees: Dominick Pangallo, Adria Leach, Jack Hoar, Richard Riggs, Marcia Lambert, Councillor Josh Turiel, Ben Szalewicz, Dana Lothrop Absent: Councillor Robert McCarthy, James Rose, Maureen Call Signed-In Guests: Joe Losano, Steve Dibble Welcome and Introductions o Councilor Elect Steve Dibble introduced and welcomed Approval of October 21, 2015 minutes o Accepted Construction Updates o Sophia Gordon Center for the Creative & Performing Arts – Update on construction progress (Mark Swingle & Ben Szalewicz) o Back on schedule after talks with design team and contractors Lost a few months and now aiming for completion in Spring 2017 o Construction is ongoing Walls going up & concrete in the basement Upcoming exterior work and preparation for winter Exterior curtain has been moved further back and will be buttoned down o A crane is coming to do some of the major structural work, it will be located on Meier Drive Traffic will be impacted by deliveries A police detail will be there Plan to start the second week of December and continue for several weeks o Questions/Comments o Chairman Pangallo asked if the latest update has been posted to the SSU website. Adria will look into and will have it updated if it is not. o Audience member asked if the delay was about 90 days and asked why the delay. Ben advised that the delay was caused by unforeseen issues with the foundation and structural issues. Mark added that due to the age of the building there are a lot of issues. o Audience: Will the bad weather have an effect on the schedule? - Ben: There is some flexibility within the schedule and we can adjust if we have a bad winter, but we do not anticipate that. o 287 Lafayette Street – Update on noise mitigation and parking o Adria spoke with David. It is the AC portion of the HVAC that is the issue. Once the noise is addressed then the screening will be dealt with Councilor Turiel advised that the screening will be up before the AC’s need to be turned on. o Residential parking is going into place on Summit Ave from Willow Ave to Ocean Ave. Adria advised that SSU has been doing a lot of communication about parking since the garage has opened. • Maps have been developed to show where there is parking available in relation to what building a class is in. o Questions/Comments o Chairman Pangallo advised that parking enforcement has been sent out in the South Salem neighborhood and civilian parking enforcement officer will be working in the neighborhood. o Councilor Turiel stated that there are still issues with people parking on residential streets and at Forest River, despite the opening of the garage.  o Chairman Pangallo provided that the same amount of parking tickets were written in September 2015, then as in all of 2014. Audience member requested to have exact numbers presented at a future meeting. Chairman Pangallo advised he has the numbers, and added there has been an 80% increase in parking tickets. (2014: 295 resident sticker violations in the two zones of South Salem. 2015 [through 10/22/15]: 531. 257 issued in September 2015 alone.) o 75 Loring Avenue – Update on demolition (Ben S, Salem State University) On schedule to happen end of November/beginning of December The fence has been removed Old Business o Garage and College Drive - update on opening Adria advised that the garage is open and the college is pushing students to use it and staff to park in designated surface lots. School is running social media contests for garage use The gate at the garage has had some issues that have now been fixed. As the garage is now fixed, exact numbers of cars in and out are able to be tracked. Captain Riggs stated that signs informing students that the garage is open are being moved around so people can see them. o Questions/Comments Marcia asked about pictures that had been taken of columns with cracks in them causing leaks. Ben advised that the engineer reviewed pictures of the cracks, provided recommendations on how to treat them and has since been taken care of. Dana asked how the lights are working. Ben stated they are still working out the bugs. Adria added that the lights at night are at 30%, working to get them lower. Chairman Pangallo informed the committee and audience that the parking garage will remain on the agenda of the foreseeable future so that updates may be provided. Councilor Elect Dibble asked if there has been any discussion on allowing residents to park in the garage during a snow emergency. - Adria advised that residents will be able to park in O’Keefe and students will go into the garage so the plows can clear the lots. o Neighborhood Disturbances Captain Riggs provided an update on Halloween disturbances. A few calls but less then last year The concert the weekend prior to Halloween resulted in only a few incidents for disorderly and resisting arrest New Business o Councilor Elect Dibble made comment to the cigarette butts being dropped on Loring Ave since the campus has become smoke free. Chairman Pangallo stated the city has ordered more receptacles. o Councilor Elect Dibble asked if the house on Harrison Road is being used for the college. Ben advised it was not. Councilor Elect Dibble requested a time frame of when it will be on the market for residential use. o Councilor Elect Dibble requested HMLS move be added to the agenda o Snow emergency passes are available Adjourn Next meeting: Wednesday, December 16, 7:00pm Enterprise Center