[SBC] I think we've just lost our City Hall meeting room for next week

[Ron Newman]

http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1116

City Hall Steam Pipe Leak Prompts Election Dept. to Make Temporary Move

Sealed Vault for Ballots, Potential Recount Unaffected by leak; Employees Set
Up Workstations in Basement Break Room; Some Water Damage to Office Furniture,
Phones and Files

Elections Commission Chairman Nicholas Salerno announced today that a Veterans
Day weekend steam pipe leak at Somerville City Hall has forced his department
to shift operations to a smaller room while the city makes repairs. “I want
to stress that the ballots we sealed last week in case of a request for a recount
are in metal boxes in a vault that was not affected by the leak,” said Salerno.
 “We’re ready for a recount if any candidate requests one – and we’re also open
for all other Elections business.”

The leak occurred sometime after Saturday morning, allowing steam and water
vapor to permeate the basement offices of the Elections Department.  Department
of Public Works personnel have temporarily patched the leak, but more permanent
repairs will take several weeks.  DPW officials estimated structural and pipe
repair costs to be in excess of $25,000.  Salerno said he is still determining
the damage to furniture, phones and computer systems, although he has already
verified that no data or records have been lost or compromised.  While repairs
are under way, the Department has relocated to another basement room usually
used as a break and lunch area for city workers.  City workers are already installing
data and phone lines and expect to have workstations ready by tomorrow.

“This is obviously a busy time of year for us, but we can function effectively
in the temporary space until our offices are aired out, cleaned and repaired,”
Salerno said. “If we need to do a recount we’ve already set a potential date
of Saturday, December 1st and we’ll be ready.”