Haverhill

Haverhill Council Accepts Powder House Entry on National Register of Historic Places

By |

Haverhill city councilors Tuesday night formally accepted the placement of the 1845-era powder house on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is one of four structures in the city known to have been designed to hold gun powder. The 91 Powder House Ave. structure is one of the few remaining buildings of its kind in the region. As only WHAV reported last year, preservation consultant Lisa Mausolf noted that the structure was already vacant and in disrepair by the 1860s.

Haverhill

Conservation Commission Hears Plan to Clean Former Haverhill Coal Gas Manufacturing Site

By |

The proposed spring cleanup of a downtown site once used to manufacture home heating, cooking and lighting gas will involve treating groundwater, capping and excavating, including within the adjacent Little River. The Haverhill Conservation Commission heard plans by Boston Gas Thursday to address more than 170 years of coal gas-related contamination at 284 Winter St., a site now occupied by a Haffner’s gasoline station. (For a history of coal gas manufacturing in Haverhill see WHAV’s “Haverhill’s Gilded Age Robber Barons: Haverhill Gas Light Co.”)

Billie Jo-Gauley, of Anchor QEA, design and engineering firm for the in-river portion of the site, said the goal of the is to “advance the site toward a permanent solution.” She said air will be pumped below groundwater, which would allow air above the groundwater that contains volatile compounds to be removed and treated. “The intent is to decrease the concentrations [of volatile compounds] in the subsurface,” she said. “This work will include the relocation of an electric line that’s located above a former (gas) holder that’s located on the site as well as some limited soil excavation to remove some hardened coal tar deposits,” she told commissioners.

Haverhill

To Address Shortage, Haverhill to Allow Civilian Flaggers on Road Work Sites

By |

The City Council last week gave its approval to allowing civilian traffic flaggers at area construction sites because of a shortage of uniformed help. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett explained the city has had difficulty filling detail positions on construction sites. She said allowing civilian help “is an effort to expand the pool of people to do flagging and keep traffic moving around job sites.” Police Chief Robert P. Pistone said the ordinance “speaks for itself.”

“As we know, there’s a lot of construction going on in the city between the bridge that will be coming on next year, the Lupoli building—drive around the city, there’s construction everywhere,” he said. “We’re, quite frankly, not even able to fill using retirees or out of town officers to fill all of the details.”

The ordinance gives police officers a first right of refusal. “If it’s not filled with them, through talking with the city solicitor, and we could put out an RFP [request for proposal] to some flagging companies and make sure they meet the provisions of this ordinance by way of training, insurance and liability and they would then hire flaggers,” he said.

Haverhill

Proposed Solar Field Near Lovers Lane on Hold Through October

By |

Haverhill city councilors this week opted to continue discussions on a proposed solar field near Lovers Lane amid concerns over the scope and scale of the plan, which could impact more than 23 acres of green space near the New Hampshire border. Attorney Robert D. Harb, representing applicant Christopher Anderson of Hannigan Engineering said the project proposes using approximately 23 acres of a greater than 120-acre site to build a large-scale solar field. “This is going to be a good source of renewable energy, not carbon-based fuels. We’re going to be tied into the grid,” he said. He clarified abutting residents will not receive a discount on their bill.

Haverhill

Haverhill City Council Petitions State to Expand Board of Health to Five Members

By |

The City Council on Tuesday approved a Home Rule Petition to expand the city’s Board of Health to five members. Councilors unanimously approved the petition, the first step in adding additional seats to the board at the request of Mayor Melinda E. Barrett. “It kind of showed itself, a three-person board is a little tricky if people are out sick or the doctor that is on the panel was working and away. It became difficult,” she said. As only WHAV reported, a letter from City Solicitor Lisa L. Mead said state law limits the city to a three-person board.

Education

Haverhill Schools Look to Replace Services as Beth Israel Lahey Health Plans to End Clinic

By |

Haverhill school administrators are scrambling to determine what services families may need as they learned Beth Israel Lahey Health Community Behavioral Health Center will soon close its outpatient clinic here. Director of Guidance Counseling and Student Support Services Jami Dion recently told the School Committee she learned of the closing after having a conversation with Lahey on Sept. 23. “This information is new and I’m sure that plans will evolve and change over the coming weeks and months and I can provide updates as I get them,” she said. Dion said she will have biweekly meetings with Lahey between September and “the next few months.”

Though the outpatient clinic is slated to close at the end of the month, she said, it will not impact all services the center provides.

Education

Haverhill Public Schools MCAS Scores Appear to Reflect Continued Chronic Absenteeism

By |

Haverhill educators last Thursday pored through Haverhill’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System—or MCAS—results which showed in many cases the city roughly tracking the state in downward scores. The learning loss that came about as a result of the pandemic and its shift towards remote schooling that began more than four years ago is still showing up in standardized test results, state officials said last week, as they released the latest batch of MCAS scores. “The road back from the pandemic is not short,” Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said during a press briefing on the test results. The Department of Secondary and Elementary Education compares Haverhill to communities such as Worcester, Pittsfield, Leominster, Methuen and Fitchburg. For English Language Arts achievement among grades three through eight, among comparable districts Haverhill falls dead center at 26% of students meeting or exceeding expectations, according to data presented to the School Committee.

Education

Haverhill Public Schools to Acquire Former Social Security Office; Feds Offer it Free

By |

Haverhill Public Schools will soon acquire the city’s former Social Security office free from the federal government and use it for special education programs.

As WHAV reported in March, the Social Security Administration quietly moved its 367 Main St. office to 62 Brown St., leaving the former office vacant. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett told councilors Tuesday night how the transfer came about. “As is the process, the federal government offers the building to educational or public safety departments in the community…The school department took a look at it and decided that they could use that for a number of different testing and office space for different things.”

The building is accessible, has parking and it’s on a bus route. “It fits a lot of the niches that they are looking for,” the mayor said.