Mayor Cahill outlines capital projects timeline; city hall, water meters, bridges and library upgrades highlighted

Mayor Cahill and city staff on Tuesday gave the Beverly City Council a quarterly update on major capital and infrastructure work, reporting active construction at a youth “use center,” near-term bids for fuel‑tank replacement at a Department of Public Services (DPS) yard, and plans to present a city‑hall project budget to the council in coming meetings.

The update covered a wide set of projects that the administration said are on staggered schedules: an active foundation phase at the youth center; schematic design completed for the city hall renovation with a projected $26.5 million project budget; envelope and HVAC work at the Central Fire Station; a $2.25 million package of HVAC and insulation work at the Central Library; a planned $8 million, 18‑month, citywide water‑meter replacement; temporary and permanent bridge work tied to MassDOT activity; and an expanded paving and sidewalk season.

Why it matters: the projects are large, citywide infrastructure investments that will require future council votes, free‑cash appropriations, or contract awards. Several will affect traffic, downtown parking and residents’ utility bills; the administration repeatedly stressed coordination with state agencies and utilities as schedules overlap.

Mayor Cahill opened the status briefing with the youth center update, saying the project — funded with city dollars and a federal earmark — broke ground in November and remains in a foundation phase. “Ground was broken in November and the goal is that it's about a 12‑month construction period,” the mayor said. The administration said visible above‑grade work will follow once foundation work reaches that milestone.

On city hall, the administration said schematic design is complete and staff are reconciling updated cost estimates with the project manager, architect and construction manager. Brian Ailes, finance director, told the council the project has been budgeted at about $26.5 million for construction and related soft costs, including temporary office space. “We don't have any reason to believe that there's any significant or really any increase,” Ailes said, and he told councilors he expects the administration to bring a formal budget request to the council within two to three meetings, possibly in April.

Work at the Central Fire Station is divided into two streams, officials said: the exterior “envelope” work (windows and roofing) and separate HVAC upgrades. Lisa Chandler, city engineer, said roof and window work is waiting for spring weather and that roofing work aims for late‑summer substantial completion; the HVAC package was advertised the week of the meeting with a planned April start and an estimated three‑month construction window. Councilors and staff cautioned that the station would need later, larger upgrades (structural and electrical) to support a full rooftop HVAC replacement, work that would be considered a separate phase.

The Central Library project will use about $2,250,000 drawn from prior appropriations, multi‑year federal and state earmarks and National Grid incentives to replace rooftop condensing units and compressors, upgrade four smaller rooftop units and associated air handlers, and add targeted insulation along the Winter Street side to address ice‑damming and infiltration. Ailes described the package as designed to “get some years out of the system,” and Chandler said replacing older refrigerants will let the library leave Freon‑based equipment behind.

In other facilities news, the DPS fueling yard needs full replacement of above‑ground tanks and pumps after a leak and equipment end‑of‑life issues. The administration said it will open bids the week following the meeting and seek free‑cash appropriation from the council; a contract cannot be signed until funds are appropriated.

Water infrastructure featured prominently. Chandler said the city is issuing an Invitation for Bids for a citywide water‑meter replacement program covering about 14,000 properties with an anticipated price tag of roughly $8 million and an installation schedule the administration hopes to complete in about 18 months if homeowners cooperate for in‑home access. “We're targeting an 18 month process from beginning to end,” Chandler said, and she said the project will be paid from the water enterprise fund and will be brought to the council for approval before work begins.

Bridges and road projects are moving on separate tracks. Chandler and the mayor described coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and National Grid on three bridge projects: a temporary Hall‑Whitaker bridge with bike lanes and a five‑foot sidewalk off the south side; planned tear‑down and permanent replacements for Hall‑Whitaker and Kernwood bridges; and temporary MassDOT repairs to Kernwood to keep it open for about 2½ years while the temporary Hall‑Whitaker is built. The administration said MassDOT is spending about $15 million to stabilize Kernwood for continued operation while the temporary bridge program proceeds.

Bridge Street rehabilitation, utility relocations tied to a 115‑kV National Grid route and other underground work are overlapping, the administration warned, and they stressed coordination to avoid multiple closures on River Street and other corridors. Chandler said National Grid and Verizon crews have installed new utility poles and that National Grid gas work will follow. Bids for the temporary Hall‑Whitaker bridge were expected to be advertised with an anticipated April contract award window; MassDOT and the city expect work to start in late summer with an opening target in fall 2027.

Public‑works priorities for the spring include a two‑part paving program: repaving tied to a 115‑kV utility route and the city’s annual paving program, which the administration said will repave 17 streets across six wards and launch sidewalk crews in late March. The administration said the city will coordinate water‑main replacements on affected streets before final paving.

Councilors asked detailed scheduling and cost questions across projects. Councilor Sweeney pressed on whether the city’s current $2.75 million authorization for the fire‑station work covers the larger electrical and structural upgrades; staff and Ailes said larger upgrades would likely be a separate phase and that final costs depend on bid results. Councilors also asked about temporary relocation for city hall staff; the administration said it will not seek temporary space until the council approves a project budget and that staying downtown remains a priority but not a certainty.

The mayor and staff framed several items as requests the council will see soon: formal project budget approval for city hall, appropriation requests for DPS fueling infrastructure, and a water‑meter replacement authorization. Staff repeatedly emphasized that numbers in the capital plan are estimates until design documents and bid results refine costs.

The meeting also included a brief public comment praising the council's prior decision to remove a “no loitering” sign from the gazebo at Beverly Commons, and routine committee and appointment business that the council handled later in the session.

Looking ahead, staff said they aim to bring refined budget requests and more detailed rollouts to the council in the next one to three meetings on the projects summarized above. Several projects — water meters, library HVAC, DPS fuel tanks — will require separate appropriation votes and contract awards at future meetings.