Somerville committee backs $257,540 Eversource grant to coordinate trench restorations and street paving

The Somerville City Finance Committee on June 9 recommended approval of a $257,540 grant from Eversource Energy to the city engineering division for permanent resurfacing and restoration of several streets.

City engineers told the committee the grant funds will let the city combine Eversource trench restoration work with the city's partial paving program, reducing the need to repave streets twice and improving seam quality. "When you go in and pave 6 feet it's really hard to get a good seam," said Director Brian Postalway, Director of Engineering. "This allows us to combine those efforts so the entire travel lane can be paved."

Postalway said the grant covers five streets, each assigned a value in the agreement, and that Eversource will provide the lump-sum funds within 45 days of signatures. The city plans to use an existing contractor under its annual paving contract; the work will be implemented via a change order so the Eversource funds are encumbered and tracked separately. "We were also able to coordinate with them to get some of our own staff time reimbursed," Postalway said.

Committee members asked whether the funds are retroactive or will be provided in advance. Postalway and Finance staff said the arrangement is intended to be proactive: Eversource would pay prior to the city executing the paving work for the coordinated streets, though some work may begin before funds are fully in hand because the city has budget capacity in existing contracts.

Councilors also asked about procurement and contract flexibility. Postalway described the city's use of a "book job" approach for paving: a contract format that purchases square footage of paving and allows the city to select streets over the contract period rather than rebidding each time. That, he said, lets the city respond quickly to additional funds without disrupting the annual contract.

The committee laid the item on the table to recommend approval; it was included in a subsequent roll-call recommendation of consent items and was recommended for approval by the committee.

The discussion did not alter the grant terms; committee members asked staff to continue coordinating schedules with Eversource to limit neighborhood disruption from concurrent construction.