Needham PBBC hears blasting concerns and schedules school-site tours for Pollard project

At its Jan. 26 meeting, the Town of Needham Permanent Public Building Committee received updates on construction impacts and next steps for the Pollard school project.

Ken reported that DPW blasting operations are underway and staff have received at least three calls from residents asking whether less-aggressive methods could be used. He told the committee the contractor was not using dynamite, staff surveyed homes within a 500-foot radius and set up monitoring similar to prior projects; only one distant resident had reported a cracked ceiling and Ken said he planned to inspect that property.

Committee members also discussed scheduling tours of comparable school projects to help inform the Pollard design. Merrill confirmed site visits for a Chapman Weymouth School visit and, later the same week, visits to Saugus at 10 a.m. and Natick at 1 p.m. on Friday; members asked staff to circulate a consolidated Gantt or single-page timeline that merges project schedules and HMFH documents to aid coordination ahead of town-meeting materials in June.

Members emphasized clear documentation and ease of tracking across multiple schedules; Richard Cream said he had prepared a simple matrix and would share it with staff for distribution. No formal votes were taken on blasting protocols or Pollard design at the meeting.