Haverhill

Haverhill

Haverhill Housing Policies Net the City State Interest Rate Cut on Water and Sewer Project Loans

By WHAV Staff | April 16, 2021

Haverhill’s housing policies are being rewarded with an interest rate cut on its water and sewer project borrowing. The city was among 113 projects to share in $819 million in state low-interest-rate loans and grants this week from Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration. The money is geared to projects designed to improve water quality, upgrade or replace aging drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and cut treatment plant energy use and costs. “These loans and grants provide critical assistance to Massachusetts cities and towns in order to replace or upgrade deteriorating water infrastructure,” said Baker. “By investing these funds today, we can leave a better environment and a clean energy future for the next generation.”

The Commonwealth is offering to reduce the State Revolving Fund borrowing rate from 2% to 1.5% for communities that support the Housing Choice Initiative, including Haverhill, Lawrence and Andover.

Haverhill

Merrimack River Watershed Council to Work with Forest Service on Development, Climate Change

By WHAV Staff | April 16, 2021

The Merrimack River Watershed Council is receiving a $250,000 U.S. Forest Service grant to address forest lands being cut into smaller parcels and climate change across the two-state region. The Watershed Council submitted the Landscape-Scale Restoration grant application, noting “forest fragmentation and climate change threaten the ability of riverfront forests to protect ponds, lakes, streams and rivers in the Merrimack River watershed.”

“Over the course of the next few decades, the region will experience longer droughts, punctuated by extreme rainfall events,” according to a statement. “This weather pattern decreases the land’s natural ability to absorb water and prevent contaminants from entering water supplies.” The Council added development is leaving smaller, isolated land parcels of less than 50 acres which undermines the benefits of contiguous forestland. The grant begins a three-year partnership between the Council and the Forest Service, as well as Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands, UNH Cooperative Extension and the Nashua River Watershed Association. It boosts riverbank resilience projects, fills an education gap in forest practices and increases connections between private landowners.

Haverhill

U.S. Reps. Trahan, Moulton, Pappas and Kuster Hail Federal Money for River Sewage Overflow Issues

By WHAV Staff | April 15, 2021

U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster of New Hampshire applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to provide $67 million in federal grants to pay for mitigating stormwater and wastewater overflows that pollute the Merrimack River and other waterways

As WHAV reported first in February, Trahan asked that additional money be allocated for the Agency’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant Program. Trahan called the amount a “down payment” and “a signal that help is on the way.”

“Every community along the Merrimack River like Lowell, Dracut, Methuen, Lawrence and Haverhill knows just how devastating combined sewer overflows can be. For too long, Washington has shifted the financial and environmental burdens of addressing this issue to local governments, who are already being asked to do more with less,” said Trahan. Pappas said the grants will help communities “upgrade failing and antiquated infrastructure that poses a threat to our environment,” while Kuster said the money is “a step in the right direction.” Moulton added, “We can stop CSO by investing in a new generation of infrastructure and technology.