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Council approves $20 million free‑cash transfers to fund Riverview response; demolition slated to start Dec. 1
Summary
Council approved transfers from certified free cash to replenish budgets used to begin work related to the Riverview site and the Vail Court settlement. Deputy City Manager said contractors are mobilizing and demolition is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 with an estimated four-month active demolition period.
Cambridge City Council voted to transfer certified free cash to replenish funds used to cover immediate costs connected to the Riverview building response and related matters. The council also approved related transfers to move mitigation receipts into the mitigation stabilization fund.
City finance staff explained the transfers were planned: the city had temporarily used employee-benefits funds to cover demolition-contract starts and will now replenish that account from certified free cash. Claire Spinner and other finance staff told the council that mitigation receipts must be certified to free cash and later transferred to a mitigation stabilization fund before being appropriated for project-specific work.
Deputy City Manager Watkins told the council the city has selected a demolition contractor and will begin mobilization in the coming week. "People will start seeing mobilization on the site in the coming week," she said, and the contractor expects to bring on a high-reach excavator in about two weeks. The demolition is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 and is estimated to take about four months with site cleanup following.
Councilor Toner emphasized the city will be repaid: "I don't want anybody at home thinking we're just giving $20,000,000 away. . . . We will be repaid for that," he said. Several councilors pressed staff on contingency and whether winter weather could affect the timeline; deputy staff said the contractor has experience working through winter conditions with protocols (mist systems, heated equipment) to control dust and operate safely.
The council approved the three city-manager agenda items that replenish budgets and transfer mitigation receipts (roll call: eight in the affirmative, one absent). Staff said contingencies remain and that the city will seek reimbursement or repayment from the property's eventual disposition as part of ongoing legal and administrative processes.
Next steps: contractors to mobilize immediately, demolition to begin Dec. 1, and the city will track and report costs and contingencies; staff will return if further appropriations are necessary.
