ReportWire

Tag: Lowell City Council

  • Public money woos private investment in Frontrunner City Initiative

    LOWELL — To represent Lowell on the world stage takes money, and city leadership is investing significant personnel and financial resources in a yearlong effort to bring United Nations-led investment and development to the city through its Frontrunner City for Urban Transformation designation.

    For a seat at the global table — in Geneva, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada — as well as to meet the numerous requirements in the memorandum of understanding signed with the Urban Economy Forum in August, the city has had to front considerable costs for travel, for documents and for access.

    Although the goal of those investments is clear — to position Lowell, the first city in the United States to receive Frontrunner City status, with international private development — what’s not clear, is how much taxpayer funds the city has actually invested.

    “The Frontrunner City Program is a tremendous opportunity for Lowell,” City Manager Tom Golden said by email Oct. 24. “It aligns directly with the Lowell Forward Master Plan, our Green Community designation, and our zoning and infrastructure reforms. It has already opened doors to international partnerships, philanthropic interest, and potential foreign direct investment that would otherwise be out of reach for the City of Lowell.”

    At the Oct. 28 City Council meeting, Councilor Erik Gitschier’s motion requested Golden provide the council with “a detailed report on all expenditures for the frontrunner city, including the program, travel and any other expenses.”

    That response is pending, but a look at publicly available records shows costs associated with marketing and publicity, council-approved travel expenses, UEF filings and documents, as well as broker and conference fees associated with Lowell’s participation in UEF that could exceed $1 million.

    Mayor Dan Rourke kicked off Lowell’s participation last September by attending UEF-6 in Toronto, for an international conference on financing sustainable tourism. Rourke participated as a speaker in the mayoral roundtable and his nominal travel expenses amounted to $1,300.

    “I believe this opportunity will greatly benefit our community by enhancing the City of Lowell visibility,” he said in his out-of-state travel request.

    It was at that meeting that Rourke first learned of the Frontrunner City opportunity.

    One month later, eight people were approved for out-of-state travel to attend the Front Runner Community Initiative Program in Toronto for almost $4,000. The UEF covered the travel costs for hotel, flights and lodging.

    This past February, the City Council voted to appropriate $750,000 from free cash to support economic development initiatives, including promoting the Frontrunner City Initiative.

    Free cash is composed in part of unspent, unencumbered appropriations from the prior fiscal year.

    By July, the city was hosting a UEF and World Pavilion delegation. It is not known how much the UEF contributed toward their visit, nor how much Lowell expensed to host them, which included group meals at the Athenian Corner and Cobblestones restaurants, the latter at which a memorandum of understanding was signed by the city with the UEF.

    During their three-day site visit to Lowell, the Department of Planning and Development pitched the UEF team on a dozen development sites including the Hamilton Canal Innovation District off Dutton Street in Downtown Lowell; both the vacant District and Superior Courthouses on Hurd and Gorham streets, respectively; the Gallagher Terminal area where the city owns vacant land; the South Common area in Back Central; and other locations.

    But the focus was on the development opportunities in the Jackson, Appleton and Middlesex streets area.

    “Lowell’s JAM+ project represents an area ready for transformation and includes infill housing opportunities, new retail and commercial opportunities, improved open space and recreation, improved transit and connections, and a potential geothermal project,” Assistant City Manager/DPD Director Yovani Baez-Rose said in a memo to the City Council.

    To attend the UEF and World Urban Forum at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva in August, the city shelled out $33,258 to cover the costs of 11 people — seven councilors and four staff members, including Golden.

    The business trip may have included some incidental costs paid by the UEF or other partner associations, which were not disclosed.

    “Following the formal announcement of the City of Lowell as the first United States Frontrunner City, we have received outreach and communications from global businesses interested in working with Lowell and the Urban Economy Forum,” Baez-Rose said in an Oct. 7 memo. “The city’s Communications staff have been working closely with the UEF on press coverage for this continued partnership.”

    Lowell leadership returned to Toronto for more Frontrunner discussions Sept. 17-18. One week later, Lowell was represented at the Global Expert Meeting in Toronto by Rourke and Department of Public Works Sustainability Director Katherine Moses. Out-of-state travel costs could not be determined for this trip, which may have come out of free cash.

    In October, Lowell leadership again traveled to Toronto to attend the seventh annual Urban Economy Forum, a global event dedicated to reshaping urban economies. The almost $10,000 cost to the city was offset by the UEF covering some unspecified incidental costs.

    Golden, Rourke, DPD Deputy Director Camilo Espitia, Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs/Chief Financial Officer Conor Baldwin and Councilors Corey Belanger, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem and Sokhary Chau attended the conference.

    The JAM project discussed in July is still in the draft phase, but it was presented during the UEF-7 sessions, which included global investors.

    Some incidental costs the UEF may not have covered was the $13,000 to register for the conference, as well as other costs to participate in the sessions and forums.

    In addition to an initial outlay of $12,000 in marketing collateral to promote the city, Lowell has purchased other public relations collateral in various real estate and financial outlets, not all of which has been disclosed to date.

    “It is important to emphasize that the city has not paid the UEF for a title or designation,” Golden said in his October email. “Rather, we have invested in the infrastructure necessary to support our role as a Frontrunner City. This includes the creation of a comprehensive profile of the City of Lowell to be used to attract investors. These are investments in capacity, not fees.”

    Golden emphasized that financial outlays were investments similar to creating Lowell’s Master Plan.

    “Lowell’s designation as the first U.S. Frontrunner City was not purchased — we are continuing to work and earn it,” he said. “It reflects over 12 months of work by our planning, sustainability, and economic development teams, and it positions our city to compete globally for resources and recognition. There has been continuous communication and collaboration between the city and UEF staff throughout this time.”

    The council is expected to receive an update on its Frontrunner City investment status in the coming weeks, and Golden told the council at its Oct. 28 meeting that a dashboard will be posted to the city’s website soon “with everything that’s been happening with the Frontrunner City.”

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • Lowell’s Back Central neighborhood a ‘mini Mass and Cass’

    LOWELL — During last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilor Corey Belanger called the city’s Back Central neighborhood a “mini Mass and Cass,” referring to the area of Boston plagued by the same homeless, drug and crime crisis that has been growing for several years in Lowell’s poorest neighborhood.

    “On the back of Charles Street … the sidewalk was completely overrun, tents on the sidewalk, open-air drug use going on,” he said. “We need help.”

    Between March and September, the Lowell Police Department recorded a staggering 10,000 police dispatch entries in the densely populated neighborhood, which is roughly bounded by Appleton Street to the north, Chambers Street to the south, Thorndike Street to the west and Lawrence Street to the east.

    The police calls resulted in more than 18,000 officer call-offs, reflecting the significant resources required to manage incidents in this area. During this same period, 606 arrests were made — or on average, 100 per month — with 117 individuals arrested two or more times, and 20 individuals arrested five or more times.

    Councilors Corey Robinson and Erik Gitschier’s motion requested City Manager Tom Golden have a conversation between the council and key stakeholders centered around “challenges with our transient community.”

    Golden said he was trying to “work toward a solution” on what he described as a “revolving door” of people being arrested by the police only to be released back out on the streets by the judges at Lowell District Court.

    “There’s a lot going on here,” he said. “I can report back.”

    But councilors, while praising the city’s policing and social outreach efforts, were exasperated by the lack of coordination between the courts, state-level departments and other social and legislative agencies.

    “We need everybody together to help on this, otherwise we’re just going to spin our tires,” Gitschier said. “Send them down to the courthouse, they’re going to come right out of the courthouse and these numbers are just going to continue to escalate and escalate and no one really gets help. And that’s the sad part — people are not getting help.”

    Although not exclusively a homeless problem, based on figures released by the LPD and the Office of Homeless Initiatives, which is under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, the rise in arrests of homeless people tracked with the rise in homelessness.

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines individuals as homeless if they lack a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime address.” Last winter’s federally mandated point-in-time count, conducted during the early morning hours of Jan. 30, reported 250 homeless people in Lowell.

    Two hundred were sheltered through Community Teamwork Inc.’s hotel program in Chelmsford, and in both regular and emergency beds provided through the Lowell Transitional Living Center on Middlesex Street in Downtown Lowell. There were 50 unsheltered people living outdoors.

    Those unsheltered people were mostly living in squalid encampments scattered throughout the city, including South Common Park, a 22.5-acre public green space in the city’s Back Central neighborhood.

    The City Council passed an ordinance in November 2024 making it unlawful to camp on public property in the city of Lowell. The civil ordinance is enforceable through the LPD, and the city sanctioned so-called “sweeps” of numerous homeless encampments, including South Common.

    In early October, one person was killed and another person hospitalized after a garbage truck backed over them on Spring Street. Witnesses said the two homeless individuals had been sleeping on the narrow, alley-like street after they had been repeatedly told to leave other parts of the city, most recently South Common.

    But even homeless people with an emergency bed at night become unsheltered during the day when the LTLC, the largest adult emergency shelter north of Boston, asks its clients to leave the premises.

    According to the LPD, complaints about trespassing increased from 519 complaints in 2021 to 1,369 complaints in 2024, a more than 150% increase.

    The shelter clients generally congregate in the Jackson Street, Appleton Street, Middlesex Street, Summer Street, and Gorham Street corridors.

    “These areas have experienced a high concentration of transient individuals, which has led to recurring public safety and quality-of-life issues,” Assistant City Manger Shawn Machado said in the motion response dated Oct. 21.

    Councilor Vesna Nuon suggested that the task force approach the city took to address gang violence in the city almost 20 years ago may be a guide to Lowell’s current crisis.

    “When we had a gang issue in the city, the juvenile court judge and others participated in this,” Nuon said. “The [District Attorney] the [Middlesex] Sheriff’s Office, [Department of Children and Families] and all those entries, joined in. The court plays an important role in this.”

    Machado’s motion response noted that the city’s Community Opioid Outreach Program had been active in the neighborhood, offering outreach and services to individuals in need.

    “Despite their daily efforts, there remains a significant number of individuals who decline the services offered,” Machado’s motion response said. “This underscores the complexity of the issue and the need for a more comprehensive, multi-agency approach to address the underlying causes of chronic homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges.”

    Machado said Golden will extend invitations to a representative from Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s office, leadership from the LPD, district court judges serving the Lowell area, an a representative from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

    “The goal of this discussion is to explore collaborative strategies that address the root causes of recidivism, improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders, and enhance public safety for all residents and businesses,” Machado said.

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • Lowell’s City Council at-large race lacks luster

    LOWELL — District races feature candidates representing a particular neighborhood. But the candidates for one of the three at-large seats on the City Council represent the entire city.

    In Tuesday’s general election, incumbents Erik Gitschier, Rita Mercier and Vesna Nuon defend their at-large City Council seats against challengers Sixto DeJesus and Emile Kaufman.

    Unlike the 100% participation in The Sun’s election questionnaire for the District 3 – Belvidere, District 4 – Downtown, District 5 – South Lowell, District 7 – The Acre and District 8 – Upper Highlands City Council races, only Gitschier and Nuon provided complete responses; Mercier partially responded.

    Kaufman did not respond to emails or text messages by deadline, and DeJesus declined to participate.

    Nuon and DeJesus attended Coalition for a Better Acre’s “Candidating” event at the Lowell Senior Center Aug. 27, and both Nuon and Mercier participated in the “Get to Know Your Candidates” City Council forum held Sept. 29 at Lowell TeleMedia Center in Downtown Lowell.

    The incumbents’ responses are unedited. Mercier declined to provide responses beyond the first question.

    Q: What are your top 3 priorities for the city?

    Gitschier: Public safety, schools, economic development.

    Mercier: Continue with our streets and sidewalks to be brought back to the quality and condition they were and should be, continue to watch our finances and spending habits, provide the best constituent service our residents have every right to expect and deserve, even our homeless people.

    Nuon: More affordable housing and easing homelessness, business improvement district downtown & vacancy ordinance, sustainability and climate action.

    Q: Do you support community benefits agreements for developments in Lowell?

    Gitschier: Yes, anytime a negotiation includes the stake holders within our community there can be major benefits. Many of those benefits hold contractors accountable, such as local hiring, environmental impacts, traffic concerns, living wages, and can address many negative impacts to our community.

    Nuon: Yes, I do. It offers advantages for the city. It ensures collaboration between developers and community and addresses potential negative consequences. It also ensures that developers align with the needs of the community, especially those most impacted by the development projects.

    Q: Energy costs are rising, in part due to AI infrastructure costs like those associated with the Markley Group’s data center in the Sacred Heart neighborhood. What steps will you take to mitigate those impacts on ratepayers in Lowell, especially in environmental justice communities that may also face cuts to LIHEAP and other energy subsidy programs?

    Gitschier: As a City Councilor I advocated for the creation of a sustainability department because of rising costs and environmental impacts in our community. The sustainability department has brought in more than 25 million dollars in funding to our community (Environmental Justice Community), assisted many families in our community with their energy usage through neighborhood outreach, one on one communication, and direct communication with local, state, and federal officials.

    We need better oversight on programs such as Mass Save, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). A recently released study by the State Auditor’s Office on Mass Save Programs has pointed out the disparities between Environmental Justice Communities (Gateway Cities) and much wealthier communities. The study showed a skewed distribution of benefits, favoring residents of many high-income communities, and lower income communities picking up the costs. As in the past, I will advocate on the local level to voice our displeasure to our State and Federal elected Officials.

    Nuon: The resident of Lowell matter. I believe we need vigilant regulators (who) are willing to put in the time and effort to oppose the deals that pass costs on to the ratepayers.

    Q: More than 60% of Lowell residents are renters and half of those are rent burdened. Do you support rent control?

    Gitschier: When looking at rent control, I have some concerns with legislative bodies creating policy without fully vetting the effects. Rent control would have a direct impact on the housing supply, new construction, maintenance of rentals, and sources for budgeting.

    Nuon: Yes. Tenants should not have to leave their homes because of rent increases.

    Q: Do you support by-right zoning and streamlined permitting as the key to building more housing in Lowell?

    Gitschier: No, I believe in the need for a discretionary process as a special permit, variance, zoning amendment, or other discretionary zoning approvals. Without the discretionary process neighborhoods would have no voice and community concerns would not be addressed. There would be no need for any negotiations for community benefits agreements if by-right zoning was in place and the stake holders would not have a voice.

    Nuon: I fully support by-right zoning. This is one way to work towards solving our housing shortage by streamline permitting for those who want to build. In fact, the City has already had a by-right zoning permitting in and around Downtown near the train station. This process makes it as simple as possible for builder/developers to build.

    Polls open at 7 a.m. Nov. 4 and close at 8 p.m. For more voting and election day information, visit lowellma.gov/294/Election-Census.

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • Lowell’s old District Court faces uncertain future

    LOWELL — Wall clocks were stopped at random times in the rooms throughout the vacant Lowell District Court at 41 Hurd St. The two public phone booths — from which visitors made calls before the age of cellphones — were missing the actual phone sets. And the water to the drinking fountain was shut off.

    But the ancient heating system was pumping out warm air on a chilly October morning, and the lights were working, giving a small group a toasty and safe way to navigate the sprawling courthouse buildings Thursday.

    The public tour was arranged by the Department of Planning and Development under the terms of the request for proposal issued by the city in August.

    “The RFP presents a unique opportunity for mixed-use development with the focus on residential development located in the downtown of the city of Lowell,” Asset Manager George Coulouras said at the onset of the self-guided tour. “We welcome you all here. If you have any questions, please direct them to the Purchasing Department.”

    The two-story courthouse is actually two buildings. The original courthouse, closest to George Street, is a Federal Revival brick structure built in 1925 and expanded west toward Central Street in 1969. The almost 32,000-square-foot property included seven courtrooms and chambers as well as the Clerk of Court, Probation and other court support functions.

    The District Court parcel has been vacant since 2020 when the new Lowell Justice Center, later renamed the Cornelius F. Kiernan Judicial Center, opened on Jackson Street. The work of the District Court and the Superior Court on Gorham Street were moved to the gleaming seven-story, 265,000-square-foot modern building that March.

    The City Council tasked City Manager Tom Golden with exploring ways to take control of and utilize state and local buildings for housing or other uses.

    Last year, the city took possession of the District Court property when Lowell’s legislative delegation secured passage of a home rule petition allowing the city to acquire the vacant Hurd and Gorham street courthouses. So far, the city has only exercised its option on the District Court site.

    Once the city received the title to the property, the DPD put out a request for proposal in August, the first step in soliciting companies to develop the property.

    The hulking property is not without its challenges or expense. With last year’s agreement, the city assumed the operating costs of the building, and the fiscal 2025 budget allocated $200,000 to cover utility costs alone. The city also assumed all staffing and maintenance of the building, including plowing, cutting the grass, and trash removal and security, such as regular patrols and security fencing.

    Although the structure isn’t as waterlogged as the long-neglected Smith Baker Center on Merrimack Street, across from City Hall, and lacks the pervasive moldy, mildewy smell of that building, the courthouse shows many signs of decay due mostly to water infiltration.

    In 2020, a facility evaluation study commissioned by the Middlesex Trial Court identified existing infrastructure issues with the building.

    “The roof appears to require replacement, and there is evidence of water intrusion in several parts of the building,” the report said. “The buildings have many level changes with small flights of stairs between the various portions of the facility.”

    This reporter experienced those infrastructure challenges firsthand, climbing up stairs in order to go down a level, squeezing through narrow passageways and observing significant water damage in the walls and ceilings. There were numerous grade changes that were potential hazards.

    Although the newer side of the complex features more open spaces, the entire structure is a rabbit-warren of halls, stairwells, cubbyholes and doors — lots and lots of doors. The structure lacks modern conveniences like wiring for high-speed internet; energy-efficient heating systems; no air conditioning in the original wing; outdated bathrooms; and the structure is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

    The interior space did not look vandalized — no graffiti was seen, there were no broken windows and the wiring, plumbing and mechanical systems appeared to be intact. But some interior doors were heavily fortified and a mini encampment was seen, ironically, in the old prisoner intake room in the basement that overlooked the six jail cells. Remnants included a pile of blankets, clothes, spoiled food, a dead phone and a broken crack pipe.

    Grafitti marked the exterior building and lots of trash littered the fenced-in grounds. The outdoor stairwell entrance off the back parking lot appeared to be a shooting gallery as the area was filled with needle caps and other drug paraphernalia. Syringe Collection Program Coordinator Andres Gonzalez picked up needles from that area following the tour.

    Despite its frozen-in-time charm, it’s hard to imagine how the space can be repurposed for anything, much less housing. Even the 2020 report acknowledged that “The layout of the building limits the adaptability and flexibility of the courthouse for other uses.”

    Elsewhere the report, which was available to the city before its acquisition, noted that the building would be “extremely difficult” to renovate “due to the condition and layout of the building,” and the “comprehensive nature of the renovations required.”

    The property is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

    The appraised value of the property is listed as almost $6.5 million. In 2020, demolition of the building was expected to cost $800,000, which no doubt is much higher in today’s market. Unless a potential developer assumes those costs, as owner, the city now bears full fiscal and physical responsibility.

    Local historian and former Middlesex North Register of Deeds Richard Howe worked in the courthouse during his early career as a lawyer.

    “I spent nearly every working day from 1986 to 1995 inside the building,” Howe said by email. “That was the court-appointed public defender phase of my legal career (pre-register of deeds) so I know the building well. It is maze-like and probably best torn down since it’s not significant architecturally.”

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • ‘An advocate for human beings,’ Ed Kennedy remembered for decades of service

    LOWELL — If you have been involved in politics in Greater Lowell over the last half-century, there is a pretty good chance you encountered Ed Kennedy on more than one occasion.

    From city councilor, to mayor, to state senator, Kennedy spent nearly five decades representing Greater Lowell in many capacities, right up until the day he died on Oct. 1. Through it all, Kennedy worked with countless residents and officials to leave a mark in his home community that will be felt for decades more.

    While many knew him, and knew him very well, one of those who knew the late state senator best was his cousin, Frank Heslin, who grew up with Kennedy and delivered his eulogy at Wednesday’s funeral. As cousins, Heslin said he and Kennedy were as close as siblings. They celebrated many birthdays and holidays together, and when they got older would often go to the Commodore Ballroom to see shows like The Doors.

    When Kennedy, in his mid-20s, decided to take a chance at the Lowell City Council, Heslin said it didn’t really come as a surprise.

    “He had always followed a lot of what was going on in the city,” said Heslin.

    “He loved the action. He loved to help, and he also loved to debate and make decisions and figure out ways to make things better,” Heslin said later.

    When asked what he thought his cousin’s legacy would be in Greater Lowell, Heslin brought up the same topic many others did when reminiscing about Kennedy: The Lowell High School project.

    In 2017, a citywide debate over the location of the new high school building reached a fever pitch, with the City Council voting narrowly to locate it in Cawley Stadium, and a referendum later that year showing widespread voter preference for the downtown site.

    Kennedy, as the city’s mayor and chair of the School Committee during this time, was credited by many in recent days for his major role in pushing for the downtown site, where the new and renovated buildings — some still in progress — stand today. At the time, Heslin said, Kennedy took a lot of flak from other officials and from the local media.

    “He was just able to let it roll. He wasn’t going to get too bogged down in it,” said Heslin.

    Heslin knew Kennedy beyond politics, though. He described Kennedy’s love for the Rolling Stones, and his love for hiking and the outdoors.

    “When I talked with him before he died, I said the thing I am probably most happy about was the same thing as him, how we climbed the northern and southern Presidential Range in 1975 before we each got married,” said Heslin.

    Heslin called his late cousin “a sincere and determined person” who made his decisions based on what he genuinely thought to be in the people’s best interest. He highlighted Kennedy’s initiative, the “Mayor’s Holiday Fest for Homeless Youth,” which he started in 2017 to raise money for Community Teamwork, but it ended with the pandemic.

    “He really was that way,” Heslin said.

    UMass President and former Congressman Marty Meehan met Kennedy during Meehan’s sophomore year at the then-University of Lowell, when both worked at Lowell District Court in 1975. Unsurprisingly, the two would often talk politics, and two years later when Kennedy ran for City Council to start his first tenure there, he brought Meehan on to run his campaign. The two would become close friends through this, even next-door neighbors at one point.

    Among Meehan’s many stories about Kennedy, he said part of his friend’s legacy will also be in his role from the state Senate in the long-awaited reconstruction of the Rourke Bridge, which finally broke ground this year.

    “Which was ironic, because Ed voted in his first [City Council] term for Ray Rourke to be the mayor,” said Meehan, referring to one of the bridge’s namesakes.

    “I never saw him in a political situation lose his temper. He was very even tempered. Even when there were disagreements, he wouldn’t get all worked up about it,” Meehan later added.

    Patti Kirwin-Keilty has known Kennedy for most of her life, with both growing up in the same Belvidere neighborhood. She would start working for Kennedy for the first time when he joined the state Senate in 2019. Through that new lens, Kirwin-Keilty saw, and was a part of, Kennedy’s dedication to his constituents.

    “For most people, we were the last stop, when they called the senator’s office with an issue,” said Kirwin-Keilty. “He would continually advocate for those constituents when they were experiencing some problem. If we weren’t getting anywhere, he would make follow-up phone calls for a commission or whoever was needed.

    “He was an advocate for human beings, for people to get a fair shake, that they receive services they should receive, and that they were treated fairly,” Kirwin-Keilty added.

    Alongside Kirwin-Keilty in Kennedy’s office was James Ostis, who started working for Kennedy in 2017 when he was mayor. Ostis would work under both Kennedy and Bill Samaras during their respective mayoral terms, but he would also join Kennedy’s state Senate office in 2019.

    While Ostis had a front-row seat to the Lowell High School drama from Kennedy’s office, and his advocacy for the Rourke Bridge, Ostis looked back at a part of Kennedy’s legacy from before Ostis was even born: his advocacy in the nation’s capital for the creation of the Lowell National Historical Park in 1978 during his first City Council term.

    “He testified on something like that, which was so fundamental to the last half-century in Lowell,” said Ostis. “There are all these things throughout history he had at least a little role in, and all of these things he had a huge role in.”

    A special election will inevitably be called for Kennedy’s Senate seat, but in the meantime Ostis and Kirwin-Keilty both said their office would continue doing its constituent services work, for anybody who needs it.

    When former Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue left the state Senate to work for the city, it was Kennedy who succeeded her. For the start of his time in the Legislature, Kennedy remained in his seat on the City Council, in part because there were still important votes left in the last year of the term for the city.

    “When he was sworn into the Senate, he certainly could have left the City Council and had a special election to fill the seat,” said Donoghue. “It was not an easy thing to do, but he did that to see through the mission of keeping Lowell High School downtown.”

    Donoghue said Kennedy liked to pick big projects he thought would be beneficial for Lowell and put his political weight behind them as much as he could.

    “[Lowell High] was just a fairness decision for so many kids that were able to walk to school. I watched the many times Ed was really hit hard in the media, but he would just let it roll off his back,” said Donoghue.

    “When they say you can’t be a hero in your hometown, they aren’t talking about Ed,” Donoghue said later.

    Councilor Rita Mercier served with Kennedy for his entire second stint on the council. She said while Kennedy was thought to have a rather serious demeanor, “he could laugh with the best of them.”

    “He was a kind and thoughtful gentleman. A friend to all who got things done. The City of Lowell is very grateful for his determination and fight to bring much needed funding in to our city. We will all miss him tremendously,” said Mercier.

    Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party, but maintained friendships with even the more conservative local faces, like former radio talk host Casey Crane, who said Kennedy was “the most loyal friend you could ever ask for.”

    “You could be personal friends and still be opposites politically. A rare man of character who stood up for the people who mattered to him and made everyone feel like they mattered even if it meant going way out of his way to show you,” said Crane. “I was honored to call him a friend. I will miss him terribly.”

    One of Kennedy’s colleagues in the state Senate, Barry Finegold, noted that when the most recent redistricting process moved the town of Dracut from Finegold’s district to Kennedy’s, Kennedy stepped up to serve his new community.

    “Ed assured me he took the responsibility seriously and sure enough – he did his homework and became an expert on Dracut almost overnight,” said Finegold. “That was Ed – dedicated and community minded. He was in government to serve the people – which he did with expertise and care.”

    Former state Rep. Rady Mom said he was fortunate to know Kennedy for many years, and to have served with him in the Legislature and worked together when Kennedy was on the council. He called Kennedy “a humble man who worked tirelessly for the community and dedicated his life to helping others.”

    “He always had Lowell’s best interest at heart and l appreciated his partnership on many issues, including advancing the replacement of the Rourke Bridge,” Mom said. “His passing is a loss all of us are mourning. He will be dearly missed. My thoughts are with his wife Susan, their children Christina and Eddie, and their grandchildren.”

    Peter Currier

    Source link

  • HCID housing, retail development poised for take off

    LOWELL — UMass Lowell hasn’t broken ground yet on its $800-million Lowell Innovation Network Corridor project, and the potential billion-dollar Frontrunner City Initiative is still in early stages, but the city’s Hamilton Canal Innovation District is having a moment.

    At its Sept. 9 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved access agreements with two major developers – Wexford Development and Winn Companies.

    “Wexford is proposing the development of a 75,000-square-foot research and development facility,” City Manager Tom Golden said in a Sept. 4 memo to the council.

    The HCID area is adjacent to Lowell’s downtown and within the boundaries of three historic districts: the Lowell National Historical Park and Preservation District, the Downtown Lowell Historic District, and the Locks and Canals Historic District.

    It is a critical part of the Jackson/Appleton/Middlesex urban renewal plan and the Thorndike/Dutton Street entry corridor to the city. It has a direct route to the Gallagher Transportation Terminal less than a mile away.

    It is also within walking distance to UMass Lowell’s LINC project, an 80% private and 20% publicly funded project that will build out the university’s East Campus footprint. The university hopes to break ground on a three-phased building plan that blends industry, infrastructure and housing. The groundbreaking for Phases 1 and 2 are to take place this year, with a two-year timeframe for completion.

    But the vacant HCID parcels have struggled to attract developers with the vision and scope to build out the centrally located and high-profile parcels.

    Wexford Science & Technology, which is pulling together the ambitious LINC project, is known for its mixed-use, amenity-rich, innovation-focused communities blending industry/university community models. It responded to a request for proposal on the three-phased housing-retail LINC project that UMass Lowell sent out more three years ago.

    “Wexford Development continues to have interest in developing parcel 15 in the Hamilton Canal Innovation District (HCID),” Golden said. “It is our hope this due diligence work will result in the successful negotiation of a Land Disposition Agreement for this parcel.”

    A formal land disposition agreement with Wexford is when the purchase price to the land would be agreed upon.

    At the same meeting, the council also unanimously approved the execution of an extended temporary access agreement between the city and WinnDevelopment.

    Sometime in 2028 or 2029, WinnDevelopment, the construction arm of the WinnCompanies, hopes to have built 124 apartments in a six- to seven-story, mixed-use building along Dutton Street. The area encompasses Parcels 11 and 12 in the HCID and is located across the Pawtucket Canal.

    The last development within the HCID was WinnCompanies’ 201 Canal Apartments in 2022.

    At the council’s next meeting on Sept. 23, it referred to an Oct. 28 public hearing an ordinance to amend the form-based code on parcels 2, 3A, 4, and 5 in the HCID to allow development by Cabot, Cabot and Forbes, which acquired the properties from the Sal Lupoli Companies.

    In an agreement negotiated by the city, Lupoli sold his undeveloped parcels to CC&F, although he will retain ownership of the $26 million, eight-story, 550-space parking garage on Parcel 1, across from Kiernan Judicial Center on Jackson Street.

    The form-based code specifies what goes on each parcel and has to be submitted to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities for administrative approval.

    The new developer is proposing to build 270 market rate residential units and 10,000-square-feet of street level retail on the parcels.

    “A form-based code change would allow for a larger building footprint across the parcels and an increase in the maximum building height on parcel 5 – from 70 feet to 85 feet,” Golden said. “Combining parcels 2, 3a, and 4 will create an opportunity to build more housing units, directly addressing Lowell’s growing housing needs of all types.”

    LINC is poised to bring hundreds of units of housing, hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial space, and a new dormitory to the Mill City. One development will build out land next to the Tsongas Arena, and a counterpart will take place near the Wannalancit Mills.

    Both locations will each add about 300,000-square-foot buildings, about 20 percent of which UMass Lowell will occupy. Companies who want to be close to campus will lease the remaining space.

    “To date, the vision for the HCID that was created over twenty-years ago still resonates,” Assistant City Manager and Director of Planning & Development Yovani Baez-Rose said. “While there have been modifications over time, the creation of new housing, the introduction of retail, and office space is still guiding all ongoing discussions…the district has a lot of momentum at the moment.”

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • Markley Group responds to concerns about data center operations

    LOWELL — The Markley Group addressed concerns about its data center operations in a letter dated Sept. 22 that was sent to the Lowell City Council.

    On behalf of the company, attorney William Martin wrote that “We are hopeful that increased communication with all parties will ensure that any potential issues are resolved quickly moving forward.”

    The letter was sent to the council one day before the body met to consider Markley’s petition to more than double its emergency backup diesel fuel storage.

    “As part of this phase of construction they [Markley] are proposing to install additional emergency generators, each with an aboveground diesel fuel belly tank,” Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. PE Senior Project Manager William Taber said in a letter dated Sept. 5. “This will increase the on-site diesel fuel storage from 71,100 gallons to 168,000 gallons.”

    The Planning Board approved the company’s site plan in 2015, and the council followed suit in 2016, but the project has been mired in conflict ever since. Neighbors have consistently testified to several city boards about noise and air quality concerns, violations of approved permitting and a lack of communication and transparency by the Boston- and Los Angeles-based international company.

    Markley Group LLC bills itself as New England’s largest and longest-operating telecommunications and data center developer. In addition to its 350,000-square-foot Lowell facility, it has a major fiber data hub center, also known as a connected carrier hotel, in Downtown Boston, which is almost 1 million square feet of space.

    Its systems power and provide routing to a wide variety of private companies, state and local governments, universities and internet companies.

    Markley’s state-of-the-art data-storage and cloud-computing company is located in an area zoned as light industrial, and the property abuts moving companies, welding shops, metal fabricators, plumbing services and auto shops.

    But the site of the former Prince pasta plant is also ringed by residential neighborhoods, as well as the Cardinal O’Connell School and several playgrounds and parks.

    In his letter, Martin said many of the neighbor concerns were being addressed including safety and security at the 14-acre high-tech facility, such as unsecured fences and broken gates.

    “A fence that runs along an abutters property to the north of the site had been damaged,” Martin said. “Markley has gained access via an access agreement to repair that chained link fence. The Andrews Street fence has also been repaired.”

    This reporter visited both locations Saturday and noted a large chain locking the emergency gate on Andrews Street. A free-standing chain link fence enclosed the northside of the property where the diesel generators are located.

    With regards to noise mitigation, Martin said the temporary chillers that can be seen in drone footage shot by resident John McDonough June 9 that  had “created disruptive noise in the area surrounding the site,” had been removed.

    “Markley is also in the process of applying sound attenuation equipment to the permanent chillers on site,” he said. “Each chiller on site should have this equipment installed by the end of October, and each additional chiller installed on site will have this equipment.”

    Martin also addressed the towering and exposed dirt pile in the lot off Andrews Street. At its Oct. 21, 2024 meeting, the Planning Board approved a previous Markley site plan for an expansion of its “critical infrastructure.” Some of the Planning Board’s conditions to that approval included remediating the dirt pile.

    “This pile is essential to construction over the next several months, but we expect that the majority of it will be cleared by the end of the calendar year,” Martin said. “The Markley Group will work with a site professional to ensure that excavation of any soil on the property is carried out in accordance with any other state and federal agency, and that dust-control measures are taken during the course of the construction work.”

    Regarding its commitment to the neighbors, Martin said Markley recognized the importance of transparency as they continued their work in Lowell and were committed to being better neighbors.

    “That’s why Markley has hired Jackie Martin to manage a public affairs program as they continue their growth and work within the city,” Martin said. “Markley is looking forward to having a more open line of communication with neighbors and the community, and encourages any neighbors to reach out to markleyneighbor@gmail.com with questions or issues regarding their operations. Neighbors are encouraged to reach out to this address before contacting the City to help work through issues proactively. Emails will be answered as swiftly as possible.”

    After hearing public testimony at the Sept. 23 meeting, the council voted to refer the petition to a joint meeting of the Environmental & Flood Issues and Neighborhoods Subcommittee to be held Tuesday at City Hall.

    Councilors Corey Belanger, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem, Erik Gitschier and Wayne Jenness will hear public comment on Markley’s petition.

    The public is invited to register to speak by sending an email to City Clerk Michael Geary at mgeary@lowellma.gov or by calling 978-674-4161. 

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • 96,700 gallons of diesel fuel on Lowell’s Council agenda

    LOWELL — Almost 168,000 gallons of diesel fuel will be stored at the Markley Group’s data center in Lowell’s Sacred Heart neighborhood if the company’s most recent application for fuel storage is approved by the City Council Tuesday night.

    The fuel powers the facility’s backup generators that provide emergency power to the state-of-the-art data-storage and cloud-computing company in the case of a grid failure.

    “As part of this phase of construction they [Markley] are proposing to install additional emergency generators, each with an aboveground diesel fuel belly tank,” Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. PE Senior Project Manager William Taber said in a letter dated Sept. 5. “This will increase the on-site diesel fuel storage from 71,100 gallons to 167,800 gallons.”

    The storage of greater than 10,000 gallons of combustibles in Massachusetts requires a license from the City Council, a permit to store combustibles from the Fire Department, and the fuel storage must also be registered with the City Clerk. All emergency generators have already gone through the appropriate Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection air quality permitting process before being presented to the council for consideration.

    Markley purchased the former Prince pasta plant parcel for $4 million in 2015 and embarked on a dramatic renovation of the foreclosed property that had been vacant since 1998.

    The company started its operations with four diesel generators, but as its mission-critical operations have expanded, the plant’s energy infrastructure has, too. Its systems power and provide routing to a wide variety of private companies, state and local governments, universities and internet companies.

    Drone footage shot by Lowell residents John McDonough and William Palermo show the scope of the work being done on the 14-acre site in what is zoned as light industrial.

    At its June 24 meeting, a majority of councilors approved Markley’s license for four diesel-powered generators holding 24,000 gallons of fuel, despite resident and community concerns around ongoing construction projects, equipment noise and air pollution.

    But several councilors stated approval of future fuel storage applications would be weighed against Markley meeting with the city’s Sustainability Director Katherine Moses to explore non-fossil fuel alternatives for backup power generation, as well as better communication with the neighbors living on its vast periphery.

    Moses presented a report to the Sustainability Council at its Aug. 28 meeting, where she said it was important for the city to have conversations with Markley to “make sure we’re all going in the same direction.”

    “I had an initial conversation with them,” Moses told the Sustainability Council members. “I felt a little better after that conversation. I think they do recognize that they can’t indefinitely bring diesel generators on site… .”

    The Sustainability Council’s function is to advocate for green design, construction and development practices in the city of Lowell that will increase sustainability and reduce the environmental impacts of building and other development activity.

    Moses told the Sustainability Council that the biggest emissions category in Lowell are buildings, “and it is split almost half and half between commercial industrial kinds of buildings and residential buildings.”

    Reducing carbon emissions has proved challenging as the city has also embarked on an economic development plan that embraces large-scale technology-driven companies like Draper Labs that relies on data centers like Markley to power its work. And UMass Lowell continues to build out its microelectronics program that also relies on Markley’s technology.

    Resident Mary Burns, who is chair of the UMass Building Authority, told the council in June that the university’s Lowell Innovation Network Corridor project depends on a data center presence in Lowell.

    “In order for LINC to happen, we need Markley,” she said. “They store the data that these companies looking at coming to our campus – it’s required. They can’t come here if we don’t have Markley.”

    That development is both in contrast to and aligned with the city’s selection as Frontrunner City by the Urban Economy Forum, an international organization that collaborates with the United Nations, municipal leaders, partners such as the World Urban Pavilion, and the private sector to reshape urban economies through the implementation of the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

    UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen met the UEF delegation when they visited Lowell in July and addressed the group via a remote link during an August signing ceremony at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Academic partnerships are integral to UEF’s develoment goals in Lowell.

    Although the MassDEP greenlights Markley’s diesel generators based on compliance to its regulations, the city is working other angles to move toward a carbon-free emissions future.

    The City Council sent a letter to the state and federal delegation to encourage the availability of sustainable non-fossil fuel alternative to diesel for use in emergency backup power generation to help Lowell meet its climate goals.

    Moses said Markley has agreed to meet with her on a quarterly basis.

    “I also encouraged them to think about creating a plan to move away from all this onsite diesel storage and find other ways to provide the backup generation,” she said.

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • The Column: Open meetings, local elections and overrides

    The Column: Open meetings, local elections and overrides

    CLIFF KRIEGER, a member of Lowell’s Licensing Commission, reached out to The Column to note that among its many duties, the board also licenses palm readers, also known as fortune tellers under Massachusetts law.

    The commission has the authority to “adopt rules and regulations for licenses and license activity that address matters of local interest in compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth.”

    So, if you go and get your palm read in the city of Lowell, the proprietor should have a license displayed on premises. But then, they already knew that, right?

    Based on previous reporting about Open Meeting Law complaints filed in Lowell against both the City Council and the School Committee, a reader reached out to let The Sun know that a complaint had been filed with the Attorney General’s Office against the Tyngsboro Housing Authority, alleging that three members colluded to oust longtime Executive Director Melinda Theide from her position.

    A quick check of the THA website shows a job positing for Theide’s position and the board voted not to renew her contract at the Jan. 31 meeting. A subsequent meeting was scheduled for Feb. 28, but its agenda is not listed on the THA site, nor is there a recording of that meeting available on the Tyngsboro Media Channel.

    The Attorney General website listing of pending OML complaints show the THA complaint as filed with the AG on March 7. There are no other complaints in the system for the town.

    In contrast, Lowell has five complaints on file — two against the City Council and three against the School Committee. All of the complaints were filed by Laura Ortiz.

    The Sun previously reported on Ortiz’s complaints against the City Council.

    In January, Ortiz, who listed a P.O. box as her address, filed her complaints regarding the tabling of Councilor Corey Robinson’s motions by a majority of his colleagues on the Lowell City Council.

    According to Ortiz’s lengthy filing, “On or before 11/20/23, Lowell City Councilor believed to be Wayne Jenness outside of the Open Meeting Law process, called an quorum of (9) peer City Councilors to ask them to make a statement and also to pressure fellow City Councilor Corey Robinson (a minority federal court decree ward duly and legally elected city council representative) into resigning his seat as the elected representative of Centralville … .”

    The complaint is the latest incident in which Robinson’s personal life has collided with his official one. The newly reelected Robinson was arraigned in Lowell District Court on Nov. 16 on two charges of assault and battery on a family/household member.

    The alleged criminal incident took place at the Dracut residence of his “on-again/off-again” girlfriend, during which Robinson is alleged to have hit, chased, strangled and pulled out the victim’s hair.

    The alleged incident took place eight days after Lowell’s municipal election, in which Robinson was reelected to serve a second term representing the Centralville neighborhood. Robinson, 46, was released on bail that included an order to stay away from the alleged victim that was enforced by a GPS tracking bracelet.

    Since then, the council struggled to deal with the first councilor since the adoption of Plan E form of government in 1943 to be arrested while holding office, according to Lowell historian Richard Howe.

    Robinson also has the dubious distinction of being the first sitting councilor to be inaugurated and take the oath of office while wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, as well as sitting in the chamber making motions and voting on agenda items with the tracking device affixed to his left ankle.

    Robinson’s case is due back in Lowell District Court on Monday, April Fool’s Day, for another compliance and election hearing date.

    On the subject of domestic assault, The Sun updated the language on its arrest logs, which run several times a week, and list arrests from multiple communities, including Lowell.

    Domestic violence arrests do not show up in the logs that are one of the paper’s most popular items.

    Former Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation in 2014 that requires police to scrub names of those arrested on domestic violence charges from the public police log.

    The intent is to protect victims and ensure they report their attackers, but the effect creates the impression that no domestic violence crime takes place in the city.

    But according to police recordings, violence against women — and women are still 91% of the cases of domestic violence nationwide — is still very much a problem in the city of Lowell.

    On this last day of Women’s History Month, The Sun corrects that misrepresentation with the following statement preceding every arrest log article:

    “The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.”

    An epidemic of deficits and overrides

    UNPRECEDENTED TURNOUT for a March 26 Town Meeting compelled Groton officials to dissolve the event due to larger-than-anticipated attendance. More than 900 people came out for a vote to override Proposition 2½ to cover a budget deficit, which has become a near epidemic among town governments across the commonwealth.

    Not very far away, the town of Dunstable is also attempting an override. Other nearby communities trying to solve budget deficits include Acton, Dracut, Dunstable and Westford.

    The Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School Performing Arts Center auditorium and an overflow room could not accommodate the crowd that turned out this past week. Groton is now seeking a space that can hold a crowd of that size.

    Despite the delay in holding the Town Meeting to attempt an override, the town will go ahead with its planned special election on the override petition. The election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2. Dunstable, joined with Groton in a regional district, will also hold its special election on Tuesday. The two towns have been trying to follow the same schedule.

    An override requires approval by Town Meeting and by ballot in an election. Both votes must succeed for the override to pass.

    Groton Select Board Chair Peter Cunningham explained what’s behind the $50.5 million town budget, including the $27.7 million school budget.

    In his statement to The Sun, he raised an interesting point about Proposition 2½.

    “Groton is experiencing the confluence of a number of factors that are impacting the revenues available to the town to build its budget. At the core are the limitations of (Proposition 2½) which by itself does not keep up with inflation and the cost of providing services,” Cunningham said.

    Inflation is one of the primary reasons that towns are struggling to cover important services like public safety and education.

    The proposition passed by ballot measure in 1980 amid what has been called a “tax revolt” around the country, starting in California. The country was in recession in 1980 and was about to fall into a deeper recession. With high unemployment, the tax limitation measures were especially appealing. But inflation brings a different view to town governments.

    In addition to the pressure of inflation, Cunningham noted the end of funding for many federal programs that were available during the pandemic. He also cited relatively flat state aid for both municipal and school services, mandatory increases in the Middlesex County Retirement assessment, increased health insurance costs and a number of unfunded state mandates which for the most part impact the schools.

    Groton is in the unique position (at least among area towns) of being home to two prestigious and tax-exempt private schools, Lawrence Academy and the Groton School. And faculty and staff at the two schools send their children to the Groton public schools. Groton is not reimbursed for that, Cunningham said.

    If approved for Groton, the $5.5 million override request would be added to the tax levy over the course of three years, not all at once. In fiscal 2025, the tax levy would increase by $1.7 million; in fiscal 2026 by $1.8 million; and by $1.7 million in fiscal 2027. Cunningham emphasized that the numbers are not set in stone. “There are a number of other factors which could affect the actual number in each fiscal year,” he said.

    The epidemic of deficits and proposals for overrides has also caused a delay in the Westford annual Town Meeting, which was set for March 23 for the Westford Academy gym and auditorium, and will now be held April 27 at the Westford Academy football field because of expected turnout.

    In Acton, the town will vote by ballot on an override April 30 and at Town Meeting on May 6.

    An override in Dracut likely will not be put before voters at least until the fall. When, and if, it does land before voters, it will test the town’s tradition of never approving an operational override. Voters have voted for debt exclusions before, which, unlike overrides, do not permanently add to the tax levy. But debt exclusions are more suited to capital projects.

    Stay tuned for Dracut’s decision on whether to attempt an override.

    A “Thank You For Voting” sign sits outside the McCarthy Middle School in Chelmsford during a previous election. This week kicks off a flurry of local town elections. (Melanie Gilbert/Lowell Sun)

    A peek at local down-ballot races

    IT IS a busy local election season and while much of the focus tends to be on the races for select boards and school committees, there are other races appearing on local ballots that voters should be prepared to decide on as well.

    In Billerica there are contested races almost all the way down the ballot this year in the April 6 election. In addition to the contested races of the Select Board and School Committee that have been covered in more detail by The Sun in recent days, the position of town moderator and seats on the Planning Board also have some competition.

    The town moderator seat is a race with incumbent John McKenna seeking reelection against challenger James Reef. The Planning Board is a three-person race for two three-year seats between Anthony Ventresca and incumbents Marlies Henderson and Christopher Tribou. Incumbent Taryn Gillis is uncontested in seeking one of Billerica’s two seats for a three-year term on the Shawsheen Tech School Committee.

    Billerica has a representative Town Meeting, and each voting precinct will have different options to choose from in that race.

    In Chelmsford, in addition to the contested Select Board and School Committee races in the April 2 election, the Planning Board has three open seats with three-year terms being sought by four candidates: Doreen Deshler, Christopher Lavallee and incumbents Paul McDougall and Deirdre Connolly. The Board of Library Trustees also has some competition in Chelmsford with two seats with three-year terms up for grabs between Joshua Wimble, Bina Upadhyay and incumbent David Braslau.

    The seat for Planning Board associate in Chelmsford is uncontested with just Joel Luna seeking a one-year term. The same is the case with a three-year term on the Cemetery Commission, with just Candace Chase on the ballot for the seat. As with Billerica, Chelmsford has a representative Town Meeting, and those seats will appear on the ballot for each individual precinct.

    Tewksbury will have its election the same day as Billerica on April 6, to the dismay of a certain reporter that covers both communities. Though beyond the hotly contested Select Board and School Committee races, no other board or committee seats have any competition.

    The Planning Board in Tewksbury has one seat for a three-year term up for grabs with only incumbent Vincent Fratalia’s name on the ballot. Likewise, the Board of Library Trustees has two seats up for election, with incumbents Christopher Castiglione and Bonnie Page as the only two names on the ballot.

    George Ferdinand and Christine Janeczak are the only two names on the ballot for the Board of Health race, with Ferdinand seeking one of two three-year terms and Janeczak seeking an unexpired two-year term. However, multiple write-in campaigns have been announced, with five candidates in total appearing at the candidate forum for the race on March 28. The write-in candidates are Luke Miller, Pamela LeFave and Donna Robitaille.

    A five-year term on the Tewksbury Housing Authority is on the ballot with just John Deputat in the running for the seat. On the Shawsheen Tech School Committee, Robert Hutchins is uncontested for a three-year term in one of Tewksbury’s two seats.

    This week’s Column was prepared by reporters Melanie Gilbert in Lowell, Prudence Brighton on local overrides, and Peter Currier on local election races.

    Staff Report

    Source link

  • Hail Mary pass for Smith Baker Center, ‘Lowell’s Cathedral’

    Hail Mary pass for Smith Baker Center, ‘Lowell’s Cathedral’

    LOWELL — The fate of the magnificent but derelict and potentially dangerous Smith Baker Center, once called “Lowell’s Cathedral,” was the focus of three motions on the City Council’s agenda Tuesday night, one of which called for it to be torn down.

    “It’s in no condition for anything other than demolition,” Councilor Erik Gitschier said.

    The imposing high Victorian Gothic-style edifice, located at 412 Merrimack St., across from both City Hall and the Pollard Memorial Library, was constructed in 1884 for use as the First Congregational Church.

    The city purchased the four-story, red-brick building in 1975 for $85,000. The building later became home to the Council on Aging and was known as the Smith Baker Center. The COA was relocated to its current location on Broadway Street in 2002, and the building has been vacant ever since. It is one of approximately 363 properties in the city’s portfolio.

    The City Council declared the property surplus in July 2011, and posted at least three requests for proposals, but no deals closed. Coalition for a Better Acre, a nonprofit community organization, considered buying the property in 2018, but could not agree on terms with the city.

    Six years ago, then-CBA Director of Real Estate Craig Thomas told the CBA board that projected development costs were $18 million with the unheated building needing significant site prep work.

    “The building is beautiful and amazing, but it is deteriorating,” Thomas said. “There is significant water damage and it needs to be weatherized and stabilized.”

    Gitschier’s roll-call floor motion failed with only himself and Councilor John Descoteaux voting in favor. Descoteaux said its “time had run out.”

    “The city has done its due diligence,” Descoteaux said. “If I had my druthers, I’d have a wrecking ball on it tomorrow morning. What have we been talking about for the last year? Housing. We need more housing.”

    He advocated for clearing the site for housing development.

    The Department of Planning and Development noted last September that the “DPD does not have a funding source identified that would cover the cost of (hazardous material) abatement and demolition at this time.”

    Councilor Paul Ratha Yem’s motion asked that the city have the appropriate department apply for Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund grants from the Massachusetts Historical Commission to preserve and restore the building.

    The deed on the property does not limit the city’s ability to sell the property or restrict its reuse options, but the property is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places and any action utilizing federal or state funding would require approval by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

    Additionally, the state will only reimburse up to 50% of expenses of a maximum grant amount of $100,000. A 2018 facility condition assessment estimated capital needs of almost $3 million, which several councilors said the city doesn’t have.

    “… as a city, we cannot afford it,” Councilor Vesna Nuon said.

    The report noted numerous problems including no elevators serving the building and inoperable hot water, electrical, heating and cooling and fire protection systems.

    Six years later, the basement walls, which are the foundation of the entire structure, have a remaining useful life of 10 years, the roof is within one year of its useful life and the interior plaster walls and ceilings and flooring have no useful life remaining. The existing layout and interior components were rated as not being Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant and not to code.

    Last year the city prohibited parking on the west side of the building parallel to Cardinal O’Connell Parkway due to concerns about debris falling off the façade.

    Public safety was raised in Nuon’s motion which asked for a report back from City Manager Tom Golden on the issue.

    Councilors noted boarded up windows, and Gitschier said the space is being used by unhoused people. A reporter visited the site last week and saw unsecured windows allowing both people and the elements into the space.

    “I’m worried that something may happen as we wait,” Nuon said. “What if that building somehow fell down and killed those unhoused people? This building is beyond repair.”

    In 2021, the nearly 140-year-old building was declared unsafe for firefighters to enter. Two red and white X’s are attached to the building, which signifies that unless it’s determined a person is inside, firefighters will battle the fire from outside. It’s one of more than a dozen such properties marked by the Fire Department throughout the city.

    Nuon also submitted a motion in 2022 requesting an update on the Smith Baker building from then-City Manager Eileen Donoghue.

    Then-Assistant City Manager and DPD Director Christine McCall wrote that the building qualified for earmarked funding based on its location within a Transformative Development Initiative district.

    “We see this as a unique opportunity to work with MassDevelopment, community partners, and residents to envision an appropriate reuse of this building and potentially unlock critical funding to rehabilitate the building,” she said.

    The status of that report was not discussed at council, but Golden acknowledged the toll that 20 years of neglect have had on the historic building. He asked to present options to the council at its March 5 meeting.

    “I am extremely concerned with this building, but facing the piece of taking it down is troubling,” he said. “Let me come in with an idea.”

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • Lowell’s adult homeless shelter at peak capacity

    Lowell’s adult homeless shelter at peak capacity

    LOWELL — There are more homeless people than available beds in Lowell, leading to people in need of emergency shelter being turned away, said Isaiah Stephens, managing director of the Lowell Transitional Living Center on Middlesex Street.

    “People are coming into the shelter faster than we can house them,” Stephens told a group of service providers and advocates attending a remote meeting of Solidarity Lowell on Jan. 28.

    Solidarity Lowell is a volunteer group of community members of Greater Lowell working toward social justice in areas such as housing and homelessness.

    In January, the city conducted its annual, federally mandated point-in-time count of the number of people experiencing homelessness, and found there are 189 sheltered and 97 unsheltered individuals in Lowell.

    At the City Council’s Feb. 6 meeting, councilors suggested that some people were unsheltered by choice and not due to a lack of shelter or motel beds.

    “We have open beds that people aren’t taking,” Councilor Erik Gitschier said.

    The bed-to-person ratio was just one of the many surprising data points to come out of the roundtable. Attendees heard about police agencies from as far away as Salisbury bringing unhoused people to Lowell’s shelter, that more men than women need shelter and an almost doubling in attendance at the Eliot Day Center, which provides both spiritual and practical support to its unhoused neighbors in the city.

    “This time last year, our average daily attendance was around 70 people,” the Rev. Heather Prince Doss said. “Now it’s around 125 people a day.”

    The number of unhoused people who call Lowell home jumped by a staggering 23% last year based on figures released by city Director of Homeless Initiatives Maura Fitzpatrick

    The outreach mission on Summer Street, across from South Common Park, opens its doors at 8 a.m. The program offers a safe place for people who are homeless to escape the weather and the streets, to grab breakfast and lunch, or as a stop in their day for a cup of coffee, companionship or solitude. St. Paul’s Soup Kitchen takes over at 2:30 p.m. until the evening, with dinner at 5 p.m. The Day Center is not open on the weekends.

    “The reality is that there isn’t enough space,” Doss said. “The shelter and the hotels tend to be at capacity every night.”

    LTLC is a client-centered emergency shelter that has provided shelter and care to adults for 35 years. It was founded as the Middlesex Shelter in 1986 in response to the number of homeless individuals living on the streets of Lowell, and is now the largest homeless shelter and support organization north of Boston with 90 beds and an extra 70 emergency beds in winter.

    Stephens said the shelter offers case-management and harm-reduction services, addiction counseling, HIV testing, health care and resident meals for the homeless population.

    “When I first started at LTLC about six years ago, we were a sober/dry shelter,” he said. “But for the past four years we’ve been operating as a wet shelter because sobriety shouldn’t be a barrier to housing someone.”

    That open-door mission is being strained by the crushing need for affordable and low-income housing in the city that Stephens said is causing people to “fall into homelessness.”

    “It really is a public health crisis,” he said.

    Even under the winter protocol program, which funds additional shelter and hotel beds from November through March, Stephens said the LTLC staff nightly turn away men looking to get off the streets and into a warm bed.

    “We cap out for the men every night,” Stephens said. “We haven’t hit max capacity with the women, yet.”

    The lack of available or affordable housing is a regionwide issue, but it is being felt most acutely in Lowell.

    Although many communities have unhoused people, not all communities provide services for that demographic. Instead, each town has an agreement with the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, the operator of the LTLC.

    “Police drop off people every night at the shelter from other communities,” Stephens said.

    At the same time, larger communities like Lawrence and Haverhill are also under-resourced to meet the demand and send their homeless to the LTLC.

    Lawrence’s Daybreak Shelter has about 20 beds for a city of almost 89,000. In Haverhill, with a population of 67,000, Mitch’s Place has enough beds for 30 people — even during winter protocol.

    “It’s frustrating because we don’t have enough beds for people in our own city, and now we’re helping other communities as well,” Stephens said.

    Daniel O’Connor is the chair of Lowell’s Hunger and Homeless Commission, and also a board president with House of Hope, a nonprofit that helps homeless families. He noted that sheltering capacity in Lowell’s surrounding towns is low.

    “We have over 200 beds compared to 26 beds in these other cities,” he said. “I don’t understand why the sheltering is so low in these cities.”

    Massachusetts has two distinct homeless systems: one for families and one for adults.

    “The emergency assistance family shelter system is at capacity for 7,500 families,” O’Connor said. “There are 600 families on the waiting list for shelter beds.”

    As both the adult and family homeless crisis rages on, Stephens said the need even exceeds the available manpower to staff the facility.

    “We do not have enough staff,” he said. “Staffing is a big, big problem in human service work. Our field is criminally underpaid and the job is very, very hard. People aren’t knocking down the door to work in the shelter.”

    He asked the public’s help in donations such as handwarmers, gloves, hats and socks.

    “Anything that will keep people warm,” Stephens said.

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link