Staff Report
The bidding process for the new fire station at the old middle school site is underway.
“The Bid Documents for the new Fire Station are out,” Town Manager Tony Marino stated in this week’s report to the town council. “This is an exciting next step as we are getting ready to start construction starting in early September. The pre-bid walkthrough for interested bidders was held on July 7, 2026, and the filed sub-bids will be due on July 29th, with the General Contractor bids due on August 12, 2026.”
In other municipal business, Marino informed the council that he will have the Fiscal Year 2027 water rate presentation ready for the town council meeting on August 4.
“We are finalizing the new water rate over the next week and will be ready to present on the 4th before the next round of water bills go out,” Marino stated.
The FY27 trash bills for half of the trash fee will go out shortly, Marino said.
“The cost has increased to $210 per unit per year, up from last year’s $190,” he said. “We prepared and included a one-page explanation of the increase in the trash fee with this round of bills.”
In his report, the town manager thanked everyone who made several recent celebrations a success.
“Thank you to everyone who donated and participated in making our 250th celebration a success,” Marino stated. “The hot and humid weather provided its challenges, and I am sure it kept some people from attending, but we had 400 people come through and the boat parade at the end of the day was a huge hit. We are already thinking about how we can host the boat parade next year.”
He also thanked everyone who helped make the Parade of Sail for the Tall Ships a success.
“The coordination among the Town, MWRA, State Police, and everyone else involved was amazing,” Marino said. “With approximately 3000 visitors coming through Winthrop to visit Deer Island, it was a herculean effort to keep people moving both on and off the island. We had great weather, and generally, folks were very happy with the accommodations and viewing areas MWRA made available on Deer Island.”
In other business, Marino said the audit of FY25 town finances is complete, and that he would distribute copies to the council once the town receives them.
“The good news is that we needed the complete audit to go out for the next round of borrowing for the sewer and water main projects, as well as the next round of funding for the new Fire Station construction,” Marino stated. “We are obviously not happy with how long the audit took. We have one more year with this firm, and then we will put it out to bid after this year’s audit is complete.”