Haverhill

Teamsters Offer Plan to End MeVa Bus Strike; Agency Says It’s Reviewing

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Officials of MeVa, the public bus authority, are evaluating a union proposal that would end a strike and put buses back on the road immediately. The union proposal would give drivers and mechanics a smaller raise in the next year, but leave unresolved the issue of mandatory Saturday shifts. Jim Mark, Teamsters Local 170 lead negotiator, said he met with his members Thursday morning to consider how to get the buses back on the road. “The question I put to them was, recognizing that we are far apart on the one issue of Saturday work and overtime, how can we bridge the gap and get back to servicing the community?” Mark told WHAV. “We’re offering to take $33 an hour rather than the $34 the company has offered for one year.

Haverhill

Councilors Reconsider Possible Haverhill Battery Storage Farm Sites

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The Haverhill City Council’s Planning and Development Committee is going back to the drawing board and reconsidering where to create a zoning district that would allow large battery storage farms.

After a 90-minute discussion Tuesday, the board agreed to create site rankings and asked city officials for more information on the three to four possible locations and agreed to meet again Tuesday, Aug. 3. As WHAV previously reported, City Solicitor Lisa L. Mead drafted an ordinance that would allow electric storage batteries only at the old Dutton Airport off Route 110 near Northern Essex Community College. The site was previously considered for a new industrial park until it was found to be a protected wetland habitat for the endangered Blanding’s turtles. Mead explained the city could use such a zone to meet its obligation to consider such industries, but still have recourse should it choose to deny proposals.

Haverhill

Public Buses Remain Out of Service as Union Rejects One-Year Compromise

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MeVa buses are still parked and strikers are still walking the picket line in front of the regional transit authority’s Haverhill headquarters after a compromise was floated and voted down. As the strike dragged past the one-week mark, both MeVa Administrator Noah S. Berger and the union lead negotiator Jim Mark told WHAV both sides are talking, both formally and informally, but have not found a way to get the drivers back behind the wheels. “We’re trying,” Mark said. MeVa’s 140 drivers and mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, struck at midnight on Wednesday, July 1, when their contract expired. The main sticking point is Saturday work.

Haverhill

Haverhill Scrambles to Help Resident Displaced by Water Main Burst

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Haverhill officials are scrambling to help a homeowner displaced in May when a water main burst near his house flooding his basement with water and undermining his house’s foundation. Wellington “Bill” Clark Jr. was sound asleep Wednesday, May 5, when city officials began banging on the door of his home at 15 Groveland St. around 3:30 a.m. to alert him to the unfolding disaster. Since then, the house has been condemned because it is on the verge of collapse and he has been living with friends and family. Christine Lindberg, chief of staff to Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, told WHAV, Veterans Services Director Jeffrey C. Hollett, and the city’s housing administrator, Andrew K. Herlihy, are working to find Clark a more permanent housing situation while his house is being repaired.

Haverhill

Public Meetings This Week: Planning Board to Consider 12 Apartments, Daycare

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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. The Haverhill Planning Board holds public hearings Wednesday on two proposals that require special permits. Jony N. Perez, chief executive officer of Davinci Mini Apartments, is requesting the permit to convert the vacant four-story building at 121 Merrimack St. into a first-floor daycare center for 56 children and six one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments on the upper three floors.

Education

Whittier Tech Teachers Union Spars with Superintendent

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The union representing educators at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School is urging Superintendent Maureen Lynch to change her management style after, they allege, a climate of retribution and fear. Whittier Tech Education Association Union President Katie Staunton told WHAV the anxiety and unease gripping the Whittier Tech staff increased to the point this spring where the union decided to survey members about their interactions with Lynch and her staff. The anonymous “Climate” survey results prompted the union to send Lynch a strongly worded letter June 17, urging her to “take affirmative steps this summer” to rebuild trust, strengthen communication and foster a culture of mutual respect. It concludes, “When we come back together this fall, we will be monitoring progress and looking forward to significant improvements.”

The letter and survey results were also provided to the 14 members of the Whittier Tech School Committee. In addition to Haverhill, Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury and West Newbury make up the Whittier district.

Education

Haverhill Wins Praise for Decreasing School Dropout Rate, Suspensions

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Dropout and suspension rates in Haverhill schools continued to decline this past school year, dropping in both categories by nearly half compared to two years ago. In 2025, 2.5% of the 8,000 students in the district dropped out, down from 4.3% in 2023. Likewise, the suspension rate dropped from 6.2% in 2023 to 3% in 2025. Haverhill School Superintendent Margaret Marotta along with Safe and Supportive Schools Liaison Maureen Irons reported on the figures as part of a larger presentation on discipline and school safety at a recent Haverhill School Committee meeting. “We have one of the lowest Gateway Cities suspension rates in the state and we’ve been contacted by multiple school districts that have asked us to do training and having conversations with them about what we are doing to lower our suspension rate,” Marotta said.

Haverhill

Haverhill Council Subcommittee to Consider Battery Storage Zoning Rules

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Where battery storage farms could be located in Haverhill under future zoning is the focus of a meeting Tuesday night of the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee. City Council Vice President John A. Michitson, who chairs the subcommittee, told his colleagues last week the meeting will take place Tuesday, July 7, at 6 p.m., in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. City Council Chambers, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., Haverhill. State law requires communities to designate areas where the large electricity storage facilities could be located. The farms, which look like rows of metal shipping containers filled with batteries, are used as backup energy during peak demand periods. They can store electricity from solar and wind installations, for example.