Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Building department warns of maintenance cuts, reports demolition with live utilities and asbestos; seeks enforcement tools
Summary
The building department reports recent staff hires and progress toward electrifying town buildings but warned that proposed cuts to school maintenance would increase deferred maintenance and future costs; the department also described a Beverly Road demolition with live utilities and asbestos that triggered DEP enforcement.
Dan Bennett, Brookline’s Director of Building Operations, told the Select Board on April 15 that the department has made recent staffing gains and is pursuing town goals on electrification and building‑system upgrades, but warned that proposed cuts to school repair and maintenance funding would erode progress.
Bennett described recent hires including a local inspector and an HVAC technician dedicated to town buildings, plus an energy management specialist. He highlighted capital projects either completed or underway — Driscoll School geothermal brought online, Pierce School demolition and new construction nearing foundation completion, and fire stations 1 and 4 moving toward all‑electric designs — and said the department must scale operations as building complexity grows.
Bennett and Deputy staff briefed the board on the town’s code‑adoption calendar. The state’s 10th edition building code will take effect in June; the tighter stretch energy code…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
