Municipal

Methuen High School Project Update

Mayor Manzi and the Building Committee visited and presented the project to the M.S.B.A. sub-committee in Boston yesterday.

Click here to watch the 4 part video of the presentation.

Group rallies against I-93 toll

From the Eagle Tribune March 03, 2010
Group rallies against I-93 toll
By Terry Date

SALEM, N.H. — The buck stops with Gov. John Lynch when it comes to proposing a toll for Interstate 93. That’s what several speakers said among the 45 people who met last night at Woodbury Middle School to rally opposition to a border toll. Elected officials, residents and others brainstormed strategies to scuttle the state transportation commissioner’s plan to apply next month for federal approval to charge a $2 toll on the southbound side of I-93 in Salem.

Two of those people were Sen. Mike Downing, R-Salem, and John Stephen, a former New Hampshire Health and Human Services commissioner. “It all starts with the governor,” Downing said. Stephen, who announced last night he will file today to run for governor, said all Lynch needs to do is let the transportation commissioner know he doesn’t support the toll application and that would be the end. “It’s wrong,” Stephen said of the toll.

The governor’s spokesman, Colin Manning, said in an interview after last night’s meeting, “This is not something that the governor has supported and he has a number of questions and concerns.” Manning said the DOT was asked by regional planning commissions to investigate funding for the I-93 widening. The responsible thing to do is to explore all funding options, he said. “The governor said in his State of the State address it’s one thing to talk about the I-93 (widening) project but to ignore how we are going to fund it is not realistic,” he said.

The toll is being considered as a means of paying for a $260 million shortfall in the $780 million project to widen I-93, pay for the interstate’s yearly operating costs, and the projected bonding for construction, DOT Commissioner George Campbell has said.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, D-Methuen, said traffic being diverted to local roads would cause more congestion in Methuen than any other town along the corridor.

(read more)

Zoning board hearing on cell tower postponed to 3/31

The meeting is now scheduled for March 31 at 7 p.m. Zoning Board Chairman Matthew D’Agostino said the board is still waiting for information it requested from T-Mobile. The company said it would have the information for the next meeting, D’Agostino said.

From the Eagle Tribune February 14, 2010 12:30 am
Neighbors fight 100-foot cell tower
By J.J. Huggins

METHUEN — Property values have already dropped because of the economy, and people who live on Maplewood Avenue are afraid their homes will be worth even less if T-Mobile builds a proposed 100-foot cell phone tower there.

“We’re a blue-collar town. Most of us are in our homes that are worth, in some cases, less than what we owe on them, and this is just another situation where our property values are going to go down,” said Mark Paine, a 53-year-old painter and paper hanger who lives with his wife and daughter at 20 Maplewood Ave.

The proposed site for the tower is behind Paine’s house, on land owned by Albert and Lorraine Gervais of Lawrence.

T-Mobile has applied for a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to build the tower at 24 Maplewood Ave., 120 feet away from the closest home (less than the required 250 feet), and to build a tower that would be more than 10 feet above the average tree height in the area, which is 77 feet. The plans also call for three fenced-in cabinets at the site, according to minutes from a recent zoning board meeting.

T-Mobile’s attorney, Jennifer Lewis, told the zoning board the tower is needed to address a gap in wireless service along Route 113.
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The zoning board plans to discuss the tower and possibly vote on it at its meeting on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in City Hall. Chairman Matthew D’Agostino said there’s a decent chance the tower will be approved.

NH DOT commissioner committed to I-93 toll

From the Eagle Tribune February 21, 2010
NH DOT commissioner committed to I-93 toll
Corridor towns resisting as state moving ahead
By Terry Date

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation plans to apply for federal approval in April to locate a free-flowing toll system on Interstate 93 southbound at the Massachusetts border.

DOT Commissioner George Campbell is moving ahead with the plan — despite heavy opposition from businesses, politicians and commuters in I-93 corridor towns, who object to the cost and in-town congestion they say a toll would generate.

A toll would raise an estimated $46 million a year, money that would go toward the $260 million shortfall to complete the $780 million I-93 widening, as well as pay the highway’s $11 million annual operating cost, and projected bonding expensesfor the project, Campbell said.

He said the widening is critical for travelers’ safety, and a toll is a fair and sustainable way to widen and maintain the now congested 19.8-mile corridor between Salem and Manchester.

(continue reading)

Methuen Community Emergency Volunteer Opportunities

Methuen Department Of Emergency Management
Emergency Shelter Volunteers and
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team)

Methuen Department Of Emergency Management
Contact Person:
John Santoro, Executive Director
41 Pleasant Street, Suite 313

To inquire click here to get to Massachusetts Volunteerism Website

Volunteer Opportunity Details:

Emergency shelter volunteers will be responsible to staff and assist with setting up emergency shelters throughout the city in times of disaster and emergencies. Emergency shelter volunteers will be trained by various agencies and companies including the American Red Cross. All volunteers will go through a thorough screening process including, but not limited to a criminal background check.

Volunteers will be required to go through various training programs if not already trained. Those with prior training and experience in shelter operations are encouraged to apply.

Volunteers may be called upon during various times of the day and night for their services.

We need volunteers who are free at these times
Afternoons Weekdays
Evenings Weekends
Mornings

This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers
Adults (26-54) Individual
Adults (55+) Young Adults (18-25)

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers will be responsible to assist the City of Methuen’s Department of Emergency Management throughout the city in times of disaster and emergencies.

“The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community”.

CERT volunteers will be trained by various agencies and companies including; the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, American Heart Association, and the American Red Cross. All volunteers will go through a thorough screening process including, but not limited to a criminal background check.

Volunteers will be required to go through various training programs if not already trained. Those with prior training and experience in CERT operations are encouraged to apply.

Volunteers may be called upon during various times of the day and night for their services.

All volunteers will require a predetermined level of training as it relates to their role in the CERT.

We need volunteers who are free at these times
Afternoons Weekdays
Evenings Weekends
Mornings

This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers
Adults (26-54) Young Adults (18-25)
Adults (55+)

Mayor Manzi’s State Of The City Address given 2/11/2010

State Of The City Address – Mayor William M. Manzi III
Methuen Board of Trade Meeting February 11, 2010

Let me begin by thanking Karen Broscoe and The Methuen Board of Trade for hosting this great event again this year. The Methuen Board of Trade excels in bringing the business community together, and this year’s Senior Center event is proof positive that the Board’s important mission is being fulfilled.

Congratulations to new City Council President Jack Cronin. I look forward to working with you and the entire City Council in a positive manner over the next year.

I would like to express my thanks to all of the men and women who serve in the United States military, especially our Methuen residents on active duty. Words cannot express our gratitude for your service.

In this, my fifth year addressing this body, Methuen, our State, and our Nation continue to face the greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression. As I said last year, those challenges will require new thinking, shared sacrifice, and a willingness to tackle problems that for too long have been deferred.
Read more

Mayor wants to name Methuen Adult Learning Center for Callan

From the Eagle Tribune: February 12, 2010
Mayor wants to name Methuen Adult Learning Center for Callan
By J.J. Huggins

METHUEN — Mayor William Manzi is proposing to name the Methuen Adult Learning Center after Shirley Callan, the school’s founder and longtime leader.

Callan died Feb. 1 at the age of 73. She started the Methuen Adult Learning Center with grant money in February 1991. The school, located inside the Currier School at 36 Boylston St., is a part of the Methuen public school system and has about 130 students who are learning English as a second language and receiving GEDs.

Manzi, the chairman of the School Committee, is proposing to name the center the “Shirley Callan Adult Learning Center at the Currier School.”

“Nobody in the community did more for adult education — and stood in when times were tough when other people might have given up — than she did,” Manzi said.

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State of the City Address 2/11

Mayor Bill Manzi’s State of the City Address
Thursday, February 11, 2010
6:30pm
the Methuen Senior Center

the public is invited
Coffee and Donuts will be served

Sponsored by the Methuen Board of Trade

City Council moving forward with Finance Committee creation

From the Eagle Tribune February 04, 2010
City Council moving forward with Finance Committee creation
By J.J. Huggins

METHUEN — Councilors are poised to take a closer look at the city’s finances. They voted unanimously this week to give preliminary approval to the establishment of a Finance Committee.

The group will be a subcommittee consisting of councilors Jim Hajjar, Jennifer Kannan and at least one other councilor who has yet to be named. Councilors will have to vote once more to officially establish the subcommittee.
(continue reading)

Methuen Rotary Project Public Meeting 1/12

Methuen Rotary Project
Open House & Public Meeting
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
(Snow date: Thursday, Jan. 14)
Methuen Senior Activity Center
77 Lowell St.
Improvements at the Methuen Rotary are coming!
Find out about the proposed improvements, when they will happen, and how circulation in the area will change. A key project milestone has been reached –the Environmental Assessment/
Draft Environmental Impact Report detailing impacts and benefi ts was submitted for public and agency review.

MassDOT Highway Division and its consultants will review the fi ndings in the environmental
document and will provide information on the upcoming phases.

The meeting will have two parts:
“Open House” from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.—Exhibits of the proposed improvements will be on display for viewing at one’s own pace. Talk to project staff one-on-one.

Presentation and question-and-answer period at 7:00 p.m. followed by

Methuen Rotary Project

Please call Anne McKinnon at Jacobs Engineering at 617-532-4234, or Ryan McNeill, MassDOT Highway Division Project Manager, at 617-973-7446 if you have any questions or need more information.

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