By Joseph Elie, Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – Andre Beliveau, Shrewsbury's MIS director, was congratulated by the Board of Selectmen at its Oct. 25 meeting for receiving a “Best of Massachusetts” award from the Center for Digital Government, a national research institute of information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Under Beliveau's direction, Shrewsbury was the first municipality in the commonwealth to virtualize its hardware and software environments.
The selectmen also met with the town's department heads to discuss a number of public works projects. The design for the Kenneth F. Burns Bridge (that connects Shrewsbury and Worcester via Route 9 over Lake Quinsigamond) is being revamped to be more aesthetically pleasing and should be finalized by the end of the month. The project is scheduled to begin in the spring.
Shrewsbury officials also continue to search for additional water sources in order to be prepared for the eventuality of increased demand from residents in 10 to 15 years. The town is drilling two wells and is testing water quality near Route 140 on the Masonic property. Town Manager Daniel Morgado said there was a possibility that Shrewsbury could gain access to Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water by connecting to Northborough's system.
In other business, the selectmen also voted, 5-0, to support the passage of state legislation HB 2002, “An Act to Assist Municipal and District Ratepayers.” The act would require state agencies, prior to adopting regulations that will result in additional costs to cities and towns, to write in a very public fashion what their guidance documents would accomplish, how much they would cost ratepayers, and what the benefit would be. Morgado said the bill could be described as “Policy Analysis 101 for public administration students.”