1 week Ago By Amanda LureyAmanda LureyAmanda Lurey
MARBLEHEAD — Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer proposed his solutions Wednesday night as to where town residents will cast their votes this June.Kezer first reminded the Select Board why the Town is unable to use the Mary Alley Municipal Building at 7 Widger Road this year. He said the building’s lift — which is often called an elevator, but is in fact just a lift to make the building ADA compliant — is about 15 years old, “and when it gets heavy use, the hydraulic systems in the lift overheat, and it shuts down.
”“We had someone, at least one person, that was trapped in there on election day,” Kezer said. “The concern is: If the elevator shuts down and fails on election day, we have to shut the polling place down, and that just turns into a logistics nightmare as far as all the rules behind polling places.”He added that there were also concerns about whether Abbot Hall would be able to remain a polling location for the June 10 election, as well as home to Fourth of July activities, due to some needed maintenance to the building’s elevator.
Originally, the elevator was scheduled to be maintained and receive an upgrade required to be compliant with state code this June. However, the vendor is unable to procure the necessary parts by the projected start date.Kezer said he has been working with the State Elections Division on this matter, and that, considering the maintenance isn’t possible to finish before the state’s compliance deadline, the state has approved a delay in this maintenance request, which will allow Abbot Hall to be a polling location this June after all.
Maintenance to the Abbot Hall elevator will take place after the Fourth of July, meaning it can also be used for typical holiday festivities as well.Chair Erin Noonan asked Kezer if there were any concerns about the Abbot Hall elevator working as needed on election day, to which he clarified that there are no concerns about the elevator’s efficacy.“The elevator is running.
It needs some maintenance. It needs the installation of some safety equipment that’s required under code, and the State has given us the go-ahead to delay the work, the deadline to complete the work, in coordination with the vendor,” he said. “We’ve solved part of our problem.
We’re working on the rest.”Kezer said relocating district one from the Mary Alley building to Abbot Hall alone would worsen traffic and parking issues.“The proposal is: Rather than just moving district one from down there (the Mary Alley Municipal Building) up here (Abbot Hall) to join with district two and three, the concern that creates is parking and space and all of that, so the proposal is that districts one and two would vote here at Abbot Hall, and districts three, four, five and six will all vote at the Marblehead High School Field House,” he said.
This plan would help reduce disruptions to Council on Aging and Recreation & Parks programs at the Judy and Gene Jacobi Community Center, and it also “allows for more efficient staffing of election volunteers by consolidating locations where practical.”Kezer added that he has already coordinated with the town clerk, the school and Fire Chief Jason Gilliland to ensure what he is proposing is a feasible and safe alternative to the town’s typical voting procedure. Additionally, “the Secretary of the Commonwealth has certified the Marblehead High School Field House as ADA-compliant and suitable for polling.
”The select board must vote on Kezer’s proposed polling solutions no later than May 21, 20 days before this summer’s election. According to Kezer, there will be one select board meeting in between Town Meeting and the June 10 election, which would fall on May 14, and that is when this topic will be revisited and voted on.The post Marblehead town administrator proposes polling location solutions appeared first on Itemlive.
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