Haverhill

As Residents’ Request, Haverhill Conservation to Make Park Maintenance Priority in Plan

By |

Properly maintaining Haverhill’s open spaces—including providing bathrooms and seating in parks—will be top of mind for the conservation department going forward. “We’re trying to really see the image that our residents want to see for Haverhill,” Head Clerk McKayla Arsenault told residents gathered at the public library Tuesday night. “What do you want our lands to look like, and how do you want to use them?”

With some brief remarks from Arsenault, residents mostly milled about among presenters from organizations and departments like Brightside, which cares for planters and small gardens around the city, and the YMCA. A small group lobbied Environmental Health Technician Robert E. Moore Jr. for a pump track, a closed loop cyclists can ride without pedaling. The state requires cities to update their Open Space and Recreation Plans every seven years to continue receiving grants.

Haverhill

Haverhill’s Chaput, 92-Year-Old Korean War Vet, Receives Honors Before City Council

By |

Haverhill’s Russell V.J. Chaput received the Massachusetts Disabled American Veteran of the Year Award at Tuesday’s Haverhill City Council meeting. Chaput is 92 years old and fought in the Korean War. A regular at City Council meetings in years past, Councilor John A. Michitson said to Chaput, “You’re a real Haverhill citizen, and I appreciate your effort.” Chaput responded by reciting his high school yearbook quote, “‘No matter what I do, to do it the very best of my ability,’ and I’ve followed that through all my life. I’ve been halfway around the world and back.”

He received additional citations from the mayor, City Council and Massachusetts House.

Haverhill

Edward Modeen Thanks Haverhill Firefighters for Saving His Life

By |

Edward Modeen thanked seven Haverhill firefighters at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, saying he would not have survived a car crash without their first-rate care. “The first nice night in spring, I decided to take my wife out on the bike. We were going to go out to dinner. About a mile into our ride, a 19-year-old kid hit us. My wife is fortunate she had minor injuries.

Haverhill

Haverhill Council Approves 24 Homes on Emma Rose Circle

By |

With the hearing initially set for one month ago, Haverhill city councilors approved a special permit for the construction of 24 single family homes on Emma Rose Circle last night. Abutters opposed the plan, favoring the 18 homes JR Builders could build “by right,” meaning without a council vote. Using a relatively new zoning ordinance, the developer offered, what were described as, “significant amenities” to the city in exchange for six extra houses. JR Builders proposed deeding the city roughly 30 acres of woodlands near the property, as well as a parcel in the Watershed Overlay Protection District, for conservation purposes. Councilor Ralph T. Basiliere asked, “How do you walk away from conserving 38-and-a-half or 40 acres of land when it’s what the state wants, when it’s what every environmental agency and every study has been pushing for decades?”

Attorney Michael J. Migliori, the firm’s lawyer, informed the council the amenities, which also include a $72,000 donation to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust, would be off the table if the number of units dropped below 24.

Haverhill

Haverhill Councilors Get Update Tonight on Number of Accessory Dwelling Units in Progress

By |

Haverhill city councilors will hear about recent growth in the number of accessory dwelling units—independent residences on a larger property—at tonight’s meeting. A little more than a year ago, as WHAV reported, zoning for what were once known as “in-law apartments,” became “by-right,” meaning homeowners no longer need a special permit from the city to build these structures, though they still must work closely with city departments. Since then, the city has heard from 62 interested parties, 16 of whom are on the final step of the application. Nine are currently occupied, with four previously illegal and five recently built.

Accessory dwelling units detached from the property’s main building still require a special permit. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett wrote to councilors in a letter, “While we have seen great interest and essentially no complaints so far, financial resources for ADU construction has kept the quantity of ADU permits relatively modest.”

In other business before the Council, Haverhill’s Russell V.J. Chaput will be honored with the Massachusetts Disabled American Veteran of the Year Award.

Education

Haverhill School Committee Adopts Diversity Policy, Reflecting Changing Populations

By |

Haverhill School Committee members formally passed a diversity policy in late May, reflecting the increased diversity of the student population and the Committee itself. Member Yonnie Collins said, “Research shows that, when students feel engaged in their community at large, and they feel like they’re part of the whole, and not just a floating piece of a puzzle, that they actually thrive in the classroom settings, there’s less violence, there’s more engagement and more productivity.”

With roughly half the student body of “minoritized communities,” she said the School Committee needs to work to make everyone feel welcome. In the past six years, state data shows the proportion of English-language learners in the district grew from 9.5% to 13%. Haverhill adopted a policy written by the state association of school committees in 2019. Vice Chair Paul A. Magliocchetti said, “As we proceed and we dig deeper into DEI, we’ll make amendments to the policy.”

The city’s adoption on May 23 comes five years later because, he explained, previous Committee “leadership” was not as dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion—or DEI.

Education

With No College Required, Doula Training Offers Hillies Engaging, Meaningful Job Option

By |

“A doula is a soon-to-be mother’s best friend,” said Adalis Gil, sophomore at Haverhill High School who completed a workshop about the profession. Of the 11 students in the class this year, all five Haverhill High sophomores, part of the Career Technical Education Healthcare Occupations class, hope to become certified birthing doulas with Birthing Gently, the agency that facilitated the training, according to Healthcare Occupations Teacher Kristen Hentschel. The other six, all seniors, will use what they learned in their planned careers in healthcare-related fields. Unlike physicians or nurses, doulas do not perform medical tasks, instead advocating for expectant mothers and providing emotional support before, during and after birth. And, they do not need to attend college, which, Hentschel pointed out, has become outrageously expensive and competitive.

Haverhill

Campaign to Save Haverhill Campus of Holy Family Hospital to Target Top State Officials

By |

Editor’s note: An analysis of stories WHAV has reported over the last 10 years suggest what was once the separately licensed Haverhill hospital was set up to be abandoned in just such a situation as the one now unfolding. Evidence suggests the Haverhill and Methuen Holy Family Hospitals were combined under a single license a decade ago specifically to more easily allow the jettisoning of the former Hale Hospital, later Merrimack Valley Hospital. Over the last few weeks, state officials have declined to address questions posed by WHAV about risks of the now-shared license. A local movement to save Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus is brewing. As Steward Health Care faces bankruptcy proceedings, advocates warned at a recent City Council meeting the state may give up on the city’s only hospital, as WHAV previously reported.