A staff representative told the committee the City and Board of Education are continuing a multiyear program to remove underground oil storage tanks from school properties and other city sites. "Back 6 years ago, we had 21 underground oil storage tanks in the district. Today we have 5," the staff representative said, noting 16 have been removed over six years.

The item before the committee was a resolution to establish the Land Use and Building Management Committee as the building committee for the Columbus School at 46 Concord underground storage tank removal project, to authorize preparation of schematic drawings and outline specifications, and to authorize the Board of Education to apply to the commissioner of administrative services for a grant. Staff said the state grant would provide roughly 60% reimbursement of eligible costs under the usual program procedures.

During public comment earlier in the meeting, resident Diane Loracella urged the city to accelerate removal of tanks and asked whether Columbus School’s tank and other district tanks could be removed before the state’s 30-year timeline. Loracella also urged that new public-building designs incorporate net-zero energy and clean-energy strategies, including rooftop solar where feasible.

Staff described the removal process: much of the paperwork and approvals take longer than the physical removal, which staff said can be completed in a single day. They noted two removed tanks had contaminated soil that predated the tank removed and that the program coordinates work during school breaks; for example, the Columbus tank removal is planned for summer to avoid disrupting classes. A staff member described a 6,000-gallon tank as about 20–25 feet long and roughly 12 feet in diameter and said monitoring and controls remain in place at some sites (for example, the Main Library tank has monitoring in place).

Committee member Heather Dunn moved the resolution; the motion passed unanimously. Staff said this action formally allows the city and Board of Education to pursue state funds and to prepare schematic documents required for grant application and project procurement.

Committee members asked operational questions about scheduling, traffic, and coordination with the school system; staff said they will coordinate removal during the summer and will redirect traffic while the tank is removed. Staff also noted Eversource provided infrastructure work at no cost for prior boiler conversions and that two of the removed tank sites required remediation for historical contamination.