Education

Haverhill Reading Support Program Seeks Volunteer Book Buddies

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Haverhill’s Book Buddies program is recruiting volunteers for the next school year. Matt Webel, an organizer with the reading support program, appeared before Haverhill City Council Tuesday, noting 290 adults have already signed up for this September, but the program needs twice that many. Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Book Buddies matches one adult volunteer with a single third grader in one of seven Haverhill Public Schools. Adults purchase three books throughout the year for their buddies as well as a reading journal and then write personal notes to their assigned student. The books are then integrated into the classroom curriculum by the teachers, who have the students write thank you notes back.

Haverhill

Haverhill E-Bike and Scooter Regs Stall as City Lacks Certain Authority

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Haverhill city councilors got a reality check on what they can and cannot regulate when it comes to electric scooters and bicycles when its Public Safety Committee met Wednesday night. Several city councilors said they were prepared to update the city’s ordinance to include the new so-called “micromobility devices” ahead of a bill being debated in the state Legislature. Haverhill City Solicitor Lisa L. Mead, however, told councilors that until the state acts on Gov. Maura Healey’s Ride Safe Act, Haverhill’s regulatory powers are limited. After an hour’s discussion, the Public Safety Committee asked Mead to work with Haverhill Police Lt. Kevin Lynch, traffic and safety specialist, to draft an updated ordinance as robust as the state currently allows. Then once the state Legislature acts, the full Council could modify it.

Haverhill

Haverhill B&B Proposal Stalls After Neighbor’s Zoning Discovery

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The applicant requesting permission to open a bed & breakfast in a renovated Victorian on East Broadway faces a new hurdle—either live there or get a zoning variance. City Solicitor Lisa L. Mead told the Haverhill City Council in a letter the proposal by Maryam Salehi-Ala-Yamin for 421 E. Broadway that she live next door does not meet the city’s current zoning standard. Mead wrote, “. . .the owner must literally occupy the home where the rooms are being let.” Otherwise, she would be operating a hotel, Mead noted, adding hotels are not permitted in a rural residential zone.

Haverhill

Donnelly Moves up to Sergeant in Haverhill Police Force

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(Additional photograph below.)

Nicole Donnelly, a 14-year veteran of the Haverhill Police Department, was promoted to sergeant in a City Hall ceremony Monday morning. With her father, sisters, three children and other family members and friends looking on, Donnelly took the oath of office as administered by Haverhill City Clerk Kaitlin M. Wright Esposito. Haverhill Police Chief Wayne J. Tracy recalled when Donnelly joined the department as a patrol officer June 1, 2012, and how she has matured in the position. “It’s been fun to watch her grow over the years. One good thing about Nicole is I know that she cares about people deeply, including the people in this room and the people in this department.

Haverhill

City Councilors to Revisit Proposed Bed and Breakfast at Tuesday Meeting

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Haverhill city councilors continue deliberating during a public hearing Tuesday night whether to allow a proposal to turn a single-family home in a rural zone into a four-unit bed-and-breakfast business. Maryam Salehi-ala-Yamin initially proposed to operate the small inn in the renovated Victorian she owns at 421 E. Broadway as well as host small weddings, tea parties, baby showers and cooking classes there. When the council took up the issue at the end of June, however, her abutting neighbor objected to potential noise and added traffic that would be generated by regular outdoor parties. Salehi-ala-Yamin, who lives next door, was asked by councilors to return with a more modest proposal. The plan, which requires a special permit from the Council, prompted several dozen letters and petitions from neighbors who either object or support the idea.

Election Central

Podcast: Moulton Spells Out Differences in U.S. Senate Run, Says Feds Can Help Haverhill

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U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton says he believes the federal government will come through for Haverhill to fix infrastructure and, with his help, continue to make good on health and education. Moulton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for Senate against incumbent. Edward J. Markey, expressed his confidence and answered questions during a live interview Friday on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. Following Haverhill’s force main sewer failure, Moulton and 3rd District Congresswoman Lori Trahan, proposed raising the ceiling on federal money to upgrade Haverhill’s wastewater infrastructure from $40 million to $50 million. Moulton said he is confident the federal government would come to the rescue.

Haverhill

Public Meetings This Week: Haverhill Council Subcommittee Considers e-Bike, Scooter Rules

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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. Final recommendations on how Haverhill should regulate uses of e-bikes, scooters and other motorized vehicles could emerge Wednesday when a City Council subcommittee meets. Haverhill city councilors will consider proposed ordinance when its Public Safety Committee, headed by Ward 6 Councilor Michael S. McGonagle, meets. The full City Council took up the topic early this month after noting an uptick in scooter and bike accidents involving young teens—the most serious of which took the life of a 12-year-old girl.

Education

Haverhill Schools’ New Food Truck Platform for Culinary Students, Expanded Servings

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(Additional photographs below.)

The new Hillie Food Truck rolled up to Swasey Field Park Thursday morning shortly before noon and served its first customer, none other than Haverhill School Superintendent Margaret Marotta. As she munched on pizza and a chickpea salad, Marotta could hardly contain her excitement. “I just felt this was something we could provide that would be a lot of fun,” Marotta said, adding she knows of just a few other districts in the state that operate similar mobile food delivery vehicles. She said, in addition to offering free meals with a varied menu at parks and playgrounds during the summer, the van will be a familiar presence at school events, including football games when the school department will be able to charge for its offerings. Marotta proposed purchasing the $175,000 mobile cafeteria a year ago with excess restricted federal money the schools were required to spend on food or food-related items. In arguing for the truck initially, Marotta said a mobile food truck would allow the district to provide perishable items not normally offered in the individual food pantries at many schools.