The public has opportunities to shape policy this week as various Haverhill boards meet. In the interest of transparency in government, WHAV provides this list of upcoming meetings every week on air and online.
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The next step towards bridging remaining differences between the 11 communities sending students to Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Committee are likely to be heard Wednesday night.
Members of the Whittier Tech School Committee are expected to vote on a feasibility study that would review options for repair or replacement of the more than 50-year-old old high school. An agreement on the study is a requirement of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. However, a Regional Agreement Amendment Committee, which is advising the full board, appears to have reached an impasse on how member communities will divvy up both ongoing school operations and capital building costs.
Angus Jennings, who recently stepped down from the amendment committee to take over as the school’s business manager told WHAV both Rowley and Newburyport are pressing for Haverhill to take on a bigger share of the proposed construction cost.
As previously reported by WHAV, Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett told the Haverhill City Council last month she is prepared to compromise on the formula for paying for a new Whittier Tech so long as it is sited at Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus.
Salisbury Town Manager Neil Harrington proposed a compromise formula. It would place a greater share of the cost burden on Haverhill, but about the same total city would have paid had earlier plans for a new $444.6 million school been successful. Rowley and Newburyport seek a strict per-pupil formula based on enrollment which place greater costs on Haverhill.
Also on the agenda is a vote on a new student handbook and the required school improvement plan.
The board meets Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the school. The board’s Plant Operations Subcommittee will meet a half hour earlier.
Tuesday, Aug. 11
The Albert B. Consentino School Building Committee meets Tuesday, Aug. 11, from 1-2:30 p.m., at the new school, 685 Washington St., Haverhill. The board will discuss final matters related to the completion of the new school.
Wednesday, Aug. 12
The Haverhill Water/Wastewater Rating Board meets to discuss 39 abatement requests on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m., in room 301, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., Haverhill.
The Haverhill Planning Board is expected to delay its public hearing on a special permit request from Pentucket North Development to build a planned residential development of 14 new condos—six duplexes and two single-family units—on a two-acre parcel at 931 Boston Road, Haverhill. The property is currently owned by the Veasey family which owns the nearby Cedardale Health & Fitness.
When the project was first aired at the Planning Board’s June, meeting, developer Ronald Maylough said units would be sold, not rented. Maylough said the land was originally zoned for residential use but was re-zoned to commercial highway in the early 1990s. Several neighbors voiced concerns about added traffic the development would bring to their dead-end street.
The applicant has asked to postpone the meeting to Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Also on the agenda is the endorsement of adjusting lot lines at 129 Forest St., Haverhill.
The Planning Board meets Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., Haverhill.
Thursday, Aug. 13
The Haverhill School Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., Haverhill. The agenda was not available in time for this story.