Education

Early Wins Whittier Tech Seat; Haverhill Committee Chooses Not to Favor Own in Appointment Policy

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Richard P. Early Jr. remains in his seat on the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School board, adding another three-year term to his nearly 24 years of service. With supporters testifying to his good character at last night’s meeting, the Haverhill School Committee chose Early over its own Gail M. Sullivan. Richard J. Rosa, Thomas Grannemann, and Sullivan were the only members to cast votes for her. Paul A. Magliocchetti abstained. Before the vote, the committee removed a section from a proposed appointment policy that would have given preference for a Haverhill committee member to hold one of the city’s two Whittier seats.

Haverhill

Rebuilding Together Greater Haverhill Seeks Volunteers to Help Revitalize Homes Saturday

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National Rebuilding Together Day is tomorrow, where volunteers come together to help homeowners in need. Rebuilding Together Greater Haverhill Program Director Maureen McGonagle told city councilors this week that volunteers may sign up at 7:30 a.m., Saturday morning, at the Elks Lodge, 24 Summer St., in Haverhill. They will receive a free breakfast and t-shirt, she continued, with projects taking four to five hours. “So, it’s a quick day. We get a lot done,” she said.

Cannabis

Haverhill Workshops Policy Helping Those Most Impacted By ‘War on Drugs’ Get Cannabis Shop Permits

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As the state enacts legislation aimed at giving cannabis shop permits to those most negatively impacted by the, so-called, “War on Drugs,” Haverhill officials are facing a state deadline to decide how the city will support such applicants. According to a draft of Haverhill’s social equity policy, conditions to qualify include that a majority of a business’s owners have previous cannabis-related convictions, live in an “area of disproportionate impact,” meet certain income requirements, or have descendants from particular minority groups. These were specified as “Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino or Native American or indigenous.”

In an email to the City Council’s Administration and Finance Committee workshopping the policy, Councilor Melissa J. Lewandowski said the document should make clear belonging to the group prioritized by the state does not “guarantee” an applicant a license. With the state’s Cannabis Control Commission—or CCC—having set a May 1 deadline, councilors and City Solicitor Lisa L. Mead discussed at a Monday meeting whether to include sections on cannabis delivery businesses and community impact fees. Lewandowski raised concerns about whether to give applicants “exclusive access” to delivery licenses for three years because the city has yet to make specific legislation about the service.

Haverhill

Haverhill Councilors Call For Revival of Forest Stewardship Program; Mayor Agrees

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As Haverhill completes its Open Space and Recreation Plan, City Councilors Devan M. Ferreira and Melissa J. Lewandowski advocated at last night’s meeting for a revival of the forest stewardship program, which was created in 2009 but has since become inactive. Ferreira said of Haverhill’s residents, “As much as they like the heart of the city, they like the country, they like the woods, they like everything that offers us. It’s an important step for addressing some urgent climate issues that we have, as well as biodiversity in our community.”

Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said she supports bringing back the forestry program, “which we had for many, many years with some real high-quality people on it who knew and cared about keeping our forests healthy, keeping invasives out of our forests and keeping our natural trees.”

Barrett continued that an already-established committee focused on urban trees could add forest stewardship to its responsibilities. Though forest fires may seem a remote possibility in Massachusetts, city American Rescue Plan Act Project Manager Kathleen Lambert, who heads the group, said proper forest management is necessary in the face of climate change. Funded by grant and state money, Lambert told councilors she is seeking five to seven commissioners to guide the city’s approach.

Education

Haverhill Candidates Vie For Whittier Tech Seat; Appointment Policy May Change Following Monday Vote

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Amid a rocky selection process, the Haverhill School Committee will again hear candidates for one of the city’s two seats on the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Board, as well as vote Thursday on a proposed change to the policy governing how it fills those positions. It appears the body will choose between member Gail M. Sullivan and incumbent Richard P. Early Jr., though the agenda did not specify which candidates will be heard at the meeting. If the committee adopts a change to the Whittier Tech appointment policy, it may be required to provide notice and a hearing before removing one of its members from the vocational school’s board for policy violations or an unspecified “other cause.”

“Basically, the city solicitor said that she believed that there needed to be cause and notice and hearings,” member Richard J. Rosa told WHAV. He said this was the only proposed change to the policy at a subcommittee meeting Monday

The amendment follows the body’s abortive attempt to remove former School Committee member Scott W. Wood Jr. from the Whittier Tech board. After initially announcing candidates could run for two seats, the Haverhill committee later declared only Early’s open, causing four people to drop out of the race.

Haverhill

Downtown Haverhill Apartment Complex Seeks to Shed 72 Spots of Required Off-Site Parking Spaces

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The owner of a sprawling apartment redevelopment in downtown Haverhill is seeking permission to reduce its required number of tenant parking spaces by 73 spaces. The Forest City Residential Group project, now known as Halstead Haverhill, originally provided 394 parking spaces, including 72 offsite on city property and in the Granite Street public parking garage. Attorney Connor A. MacIsaac, however, says a parking demand study shows the offsite parking spaces are not necessary. In a letter last Thursday to city councilors, city Economic Development and Planning Director William Pillsbury Jr. said he “strongly recommends” councilors deny the request. “In my opinion, compliance with the above minimum off-street parking requirements is necessary to guarantee the availability of sufficient parking for residents, guests and others,” he said.

Haverhill

Podcast: Riding with MeVa Regional Bus Regulars and Driver Larry Corcoran

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(Additional photograph below.) The sky is still dark when Larry Corcoran, a bus driver for Merrimack Valley Transit, starts his route outbound from Haverhill at six a.m. For the few who ride this early in the morning, the transportation is essential. When MeVa leaders went before state lawmakers to request more money early this month, Chief Communications Officer Niorka Mendez said, for some of the people they serve, “This is the only way to get to food access, to get to medical care—even in the social aspect of visiting friends. On the bus, as a bus driver, I used to talk to them, and maybe we are the only people they talk to during the whole day. They don’t have a family member to talk to or vent [to].”

Corcoran, the most senior MeVa driver, said his job requires multitasking. He has to be “an expert motor vehicle operator, and also a personality.

Education

House Ways and Means Committee Budget Boosts Haverhill’s Allocation of State Education Aid

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While it won’t plug a looming revenue shortfall, Haverhill could receive $5.3 million more in state education aid over last year if the House Ways and Means Committee gets its way. The House last week proposed a formula that would give Haverhill $88 million in so-called Chapter 70 aid compared with $82.6 million in the current year. The amount is also $131,664 more than Gov. Maura T. Healey proposed in her draft budget. “Changing our state education formula when I joined the House in 2017 was my top priority,” said Rep. Andy X. Vargas in response to questions from WHAV. “Passing the Student Opportunity Act was a herculean effort by many.