LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

See our other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.

2020 MA State Primary Election Results

LPS Laptop Distribution & US Census Mobile Questionnaire Assistance tomorrow

From Lynn Public Schools: Lynn Public Schools has made laptops available for ALL STUDENTS in Grades 3-12 for the 2020-21 school year. If you have a child(ren) in these grades and HAVE NOT picked up a laptop, we urge you to do so.

LPS is encouraging all students to use these devices rather than personal devices for remote learning due to their setup and features.

From LPS Compliance Officer Charlie Gallo: Lynn Public Schools just scheduled US Census Mobile Questionnaire Assistance for tomorrow Thursday, September 3rd from 8:30 until 2pm at Lynn English High School (50 Goodridge Street).  This will coincide with laptop distribution at the same time.

Mayor McGee and First Lady Lauren Baker Urge Lynn Residents to Use Extra Food Benefit Card During COVID-19 Pandemic

MBTA, MAPC, MassDOT, Massport, and 13 Metropolitan Area Municipalities Announce Unprecedented Effort To Significantly Reduce Construction Costs in Order To Advance Quick-Build Transit and Active Transportation Projects

New collective purchasing effort led by MAPC and MBTA allows state and local agencies to purchase red, green, and white striping materials critical for building new bus, bicycle, and pedestrian safety treatments on roadways at lower, more reliable costs.

The MBTA, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), Massport, the City of Boston, the City of Cambridge, the City of Somerville, the Town of Brookline, the City of Everett, the Town of Watertown, the City of Quincy, the City of Chelsea, the City of Revere, the City of Medford, the City of Malden, the Town of Arlington, and the City of Lynn today announced a new collective purchasing agreement for bus and bike lane road markings in order accelerate multimodal infrastructure throughout the metropolitan area. This collective procurement effort will allow public transportation agencies to cooperate and achieve a greater economy of scale in building projects, ultimately bringing costs down.

“This is another example of the region working together to move everyone forward. Increasingly, we all need to collaborate in new ways to better serve our riders and constituents,” said General Manager Steve Poftak. “This agreement will ensure that public agencies like the MBTA will be using their funds as cost effectively as possible, especially throughout the current public health and economic crisis.”

“Establishing more bus and bike lanes is critical for the region as we continue to re-open the economy during this pandemic,” said MAPC Transportation Director Eric Bourassa. “By reducing costs for the MBTA as well as cities and towns, we can stretch our public dollars further to make public transit and cycling better and safer.”

The winning bid from construction firm K5 – $4.70 per square foot for red bus lane material – is very competitive and will aid an unprecedented expansion in multimodal projects at a critical time. Previous costs ranged from $7 to $12 per square foot, depending on the municipality.

Combined, the participating municipalities represent more than one-fifth of the Commonwealth’s total population and account for most major regional transit corridors in the metropolitan region. Based on past construction costs across the region and projected project budgets, the MBTA estimates that this joint procurement effort could save taxpayers over $2 million next year, or about 10 percent of what the MBTA plans to spend on the Rapid Response Bus Lanes Program. Additional savings are expected if the procurement is renewed for future years and potentially expanded to more municipalities.

The MAPC has led collective purchasing efforts in the past to procure often expensive equipment like emergency vehicles and parking meters for cities and towns. As Massachusetts municipalities have implemented more quick-build design solutions like bus and bike lanes through road markings, flexposts, and signage in recent years, costs have remained a barrier for some localities.

The MBTA is partnering with many of these cities and towns over the next year to advance projects that make regional roadways more reliable for tens of thousands of daily bus riders. The MBTA and the Cities of Boston, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea previously announced several projects to be implemented by spring 2021, adding up to fourteen new miles of bus-only infrastructure for routes with some of the highest ridership since the pandemic began. For many projects that include transit priority measures, the MBTA provides funding for design costs and for bus lanes’ red paint while the municipality pays for other multimodal corridor improvements.

The MAPC is the regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in the 101 cities and towns of Metropolitan Boston. The MAPC works toward sound municipal management, sustainable land use, protection of natural resources, efficient and affordable transportation, a diverse housing stock, public safety, economic development, clean energy, healthy communities, an informed public, and equity and opportunity among people of all backgrounds.

The MBTA Transit Priority Group was created in 2019 with support from the Barr Foundation to further bus priority projects around the region. Since its creation last year, the group has partnered with municipalities to implement nearly four miles of dedicated bus lanes, alongside transit signal priority and other speed and reliability improvements.

For more information, see www.mbta.com/buspriority or connect with the T on Twitter @MBTA, Facebook /TheMBTA, or Instagram @theMBTA.

Updates from state government

• As of Tuesday night, DPH reported a total of 119,138 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 8,831 deaths from the virus.
• The House on Monday approved an extension order giving the Transportation Committee about 12 more days to act on the bill Governor Baker filed more than a year ago to reform access to commercial drivers licenses in the wake of a fatal crash in New Hampshire that involved a driver whose Massachusetts license should have been suspended. The committee now has until Friday, Sept. 11 to report the bill out one way or another.
• The House also took action on bills of importance in Groton, Fall River, and Northampton, and memorialized a long-time Norwell tree warden. The House will return for another informal session at 11 a.m. Thursday.
• During a brief Monday session, the Senate gave initial approval to charter changes for the town of Plymouth and passed a measure to place a memorial bench in Pope John Paul II Park in Boston. The Senate returns Thursday morning for another informal session.
• Massachusetts public health officials reported nearly 600 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, while the outlook for several key metrics used to track the spread of the virus looked the best yet. The Department of Public Health on Saturday reported 421 cases from 23,882 new individuals tested and on Sunday added another 174 cases from 16,594 individuals tested. In Sunday’s report, the seven-day weighted average positive test rate dropped to 0.9 percent, while the three-day average number of patients actively hospitalized dropped to 302. Both were the lowest values reported since state officials began publishing the figures. During the outbreak’s mid-April peak in Massachusetts, the average positive test rate often ranged between 20 and almost 30 percent with more than 3,800 patients in hospitals across the state.
• State marijuana regulators have made alterations to the set of regulations that has been under development for months to allow delivery licensees to buy marijuana wholesale from cultivators and manufacturers. The way the Cannabis Control Commission had drafted its newest set of regulations, delivery licensees would have functioned essentially as couriers, sourcing marijuana and marijuana products from CCC-licensed retailers and making same-day deliveries to customers for a fee. Several prospective cannabis delivery operators told commissioners during a public hearing that the framework for delivery would not work as initially written.
• With the Supreme Judicial Court expected to hear arguments in a little over a week over a lawsuit challenging Governor Baker’s COVID-19 executive orders, Attorney General Maura Healey has filed a lengthy defense of the governor and the legality of his actions to control the coronavirus. Governor Baker has been sued by a group of business owners, religious leaders and others over the numerous executive orders he has issued since declaring a public emergency on March 10 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The plaintiffs claim that Governor Baker overstepped his legal authority, but Healey argued in a briefing filed with the SJC that the Governor acted well within the scope of the Civil Defense Act to protect the public from the coronavirus. The response to the lawsuit was filed with the SJC on Friday, and the state’s top court is expected to hear oral arguments on the lawsuit on Sept. 11. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is not a plaintiff in the case, but supports the litigation.
• A new coalition of educators, school nurses and other support staff called Monday for schools across the state to postpone any in-person learning and adopt a phased approach until a range of potential COVID-19 safety issues are addressed. The Coalition to Safely Reopen Schools, a group that has the backing of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts and other labor groups, outlined 16 specific concerns in a lengthy position statement it offered to guide a return to K-12 education. Their priorities include ensuring that all staff and students have access to personal protective equipment, requiring all schools to enforce six feet of social distancing rather than three feet, and increasing access to rapid testing
• The National Guard was called up and on standby over the weekend but was not deployed into any active operations, the Baker administration said Monday night as it deactivated the 1,000 Guardsmen who had been called upon with no clear and public mission.
• Boston man faces up to 10 years in prison in connection with charges that he spray-painted swastikas Friday on an air-intake stack outside the JFK federal building down the street from the State House. According to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office, Gerard Richard Lee, 70, was first detained by Boston Police and then taken into custody by a Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service office. An affidavit filed in the case says a police officer observed Lee spray-painting the air stack, and department video surveillance cameras were reviewed and showed the defendant committing the alleged crime and then being approached by a police officer.
• Federal fisheries regulators are asking mariners to either go slow or find a route around an area south of Nantucket where groups of right whales have recently been spotted as the endangered mammals migrate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it established a “dynamic management area” south of Nantucket where “an aggregation of right whales” was seen on Monday. There are estimated to be fewer than 400 right whales remaining on Earth. Boaters are encouraged to slow their vessels to 10 knots or less or to avoid the area altogether.
• Almost two years after a series of natural gas explosions tore through three Merrimack Valley communities, Governor Baker terminated the state of emergency he declared to facilitate the response to the tragedy. Governor Baker’s declaration of a state of emergency on Sept. 14, 2018, a day after the fires and explosions broke out in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, authorized the Department of Public Utilities to replace the company serving the area , Columbia Gas, and bring in Eversource to lead recovery efforts. Since then, Columbia Gas pleaded guilty to Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act violations in connection with the explosions, reached an agreement to sell its Massachusetts natural gas assets to Eversource, and got tagged with a $53 million federal fine and $56 million settlement at the state level.

From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 597 with 11 new cases today. 3,875 Lynn residents have recovered and 115 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 4,587.

We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).