Massachusetts: The Newburyport, Massachusetts Mayor Recommends a $925,000 Data Facility Reconstruction

Newburyport, Massachusetts's mayor, Sean Reardon, seeks to reconstruct the city data center for $925,000. The proposal is part of Reardon's $134 million five-year capital improvement plan beginning in 2024, which includes the construction of a reservoir pipeline, the enhancement of downtown lighting, the construction of a Water Street lift station, and the purchase of a stump grinder. The funding for the renovation of the data center would come from the $5.5 million that the city received as part of the federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA).

According to the project summary, the current data center in the city operates 41 virtual servers. As stated by Reardon, the city requires 12 additional servers, and the eight-year-old VMware data center must be rebuilt to prevent malfunctions. The $925,000 will be used to construct two new data centers, one in the police station's basement and the other at Bresnahan Elementary School. While the five-year plan includes expenditures totaling $134 million, Reardon plans to spend $82.8 million in 2024 alone.

The budget, which was put forth last week, must be approved by the City Council or changed within 45 days of the submission.