$179,200.00 Grant Will Be Used To Fund Several Projects
Mayor William M. Manzi, III announced this week that Methuen has received $179,200.00 energy grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) is designed to assist state, local and tribal governments in implementing strategies to reduce fossil fuel emission, reduce total energy use and improve energy efficiency in the transportation, building and other appropriate sectors.
The grant will enable the City to continue making progress on two important municipal goals: the reduction of energy use and expense in city buildings including our schools, and the enhancement of recycling efforts and moving towards a single stream-recycling program. Methuen will use the funds in the following ways:

 Energy Efficiency Retrofits- the City will analyze and address energy efficiency in city buildings and schools. The initial targets include City Hall and the four K-8 schools. This activity will help the City meet its 10% reduction goal as committed to through the EPA’s Community Energy Challenge. The City will leverage National Grid and Bay State Gas incentive dollars for energy efficiency programs that reduce both gas and electricity use.

 Buildings & Facilities- a portion of the grant will be provided to the City’s Committee on Energy Efficiency and Green Government to develop community education programs and events where Methuen residents can learn about available energy efficiency resources.
Material Conservation Program- a portion of the grant has been allocated to move curbside two-stream recycling to single stream recycling. Using EECBG funds the City will promote and test the single-stream curbside recycling approach.

 Technical Consultant Services- a portion of the grant will be used to continue the relationship with the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission and its Regional Energy Coordinator in order to further support the development of projects and analysis of retrofit activities.
“Energy efficiency has been a goal of my administration since day one. We will put this grant to good use by funding retrofits, educational programs and recycling programs,” said Mayor Manzi. He also thanked the federal government and Rep. Niki Tsongas for the grant, and credited the hard work of his staff, the Methuen Community Development Department, and the Regional Energy Coordinator for completing and tracking the grant application.

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.

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METHUEN — Wall’s Lincoln Mercury, a car dealership on Route 110 for the past 33 years, is closing Nov. 30.

The family-owned business at 115 Merrimack St. is closing out the Lincoln and Mercury brands in Methuen, said owner John Wall Sr., who informed his employees Tuesday about the closure. He said he isn’t sure what he’s going to do with the five-acre property, and will either develop it himself or sell it. “Personally, it’s emotional,” said Wall, 65, who started the dealership there in the mid-1960s. “That was my beginning as a dealer. I spent a lot of years there.”

But it doesn’t mean the end of the Wall brand. In 1997, Wall opened a Ford dealership in Salisbury. He plans on moving the parts and service business from Methuen to that location, and will keep about 30 employees.He said about a dozen people will be laid off as a result of the Methuen closure

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Laid off firefighters in Lawrence and Methuen are headed back to work courtesy of $8.1 million in economic stimulus money released by Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday.

“It’s absolutely great news,” said Lawrence fire Chief Peter Takvorian, who was forced to close two of six city firehouses and lay off eight firefighters this summer due to budget cuts.

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BOSTON — Massachusetts is using $8.1 million in federal stimulus dollars to rehire 127 firefighters in 13 cities and towns.

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As the new business administrator for Methuen Public Schools, I am surprised by the apparent lack of public understanding of the difficult financial situation the city is facing. As I understand, Methuen has always supported education and the school district has been funded appropriately. Yet, as I review the district’s current budget and the prospect of reductions in financial support from the state and federal governments, I feel the need to share some facts about the city’s predicament.

As a matter of policy, the City Council funds the School Department based on a formula provided by the state. After taking into consideration items the city pays for, the City Council established a figure of $57,576,289 for the School Department’s FY10 operating budget. This figure was $271,000 less than the FY09 operating budget.
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Though it may be one of the most grating neologisms of the Internet era, the “webinar” has grown into an important, often profitable, way for group leaders to reach employees and/or followers and for companies to reach existing and potential customers. The leading providers of webinar hosting technology are the WebEx division of Cisco Systems and the GoToMeeting division of Citrix. But in Methuen, MA, there’s a brash startup called Dimdim that’s taking on both of those networking giants.

Known for attracting some 3 million users around the world to its low-cost web conferencing system, Dimdim announced today that it’s expanding into the webinar hosting business, with the goal of making it far easier for webinar producers to organize, promote, and monetize their online events. Dimdim chief marketing officer Steve Chazin says the new Dimdim Webinar service is essentially a crowd-sized version of its existing Web conferencing system, but with certain features added and others removed. And he says it has already been extensively beta-tested by religious organizations, financial advisors, and even a group of Australian veterinarians, who use it for continuing education certification
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SALEM, N.H. – Some Massachusetts consumers, frustrated by the recent sales tax hike, say they are driving miles out of their way to shopping centers in tax-free New Hampshire for their back-to-school needs.

And it’s not just the usual border crossers. Nancy Hemme, annoyed by the 62-cent tax she recently paid on $10 worth of school supplies at the Staples store in North Reading, decided to do the rest of her school shopping 20 miles away in New Hampshire, where she loaded up on folders, notebooks, and other supplies for her three children at Wal-Mart. She plans to make another trip this month for a television and other items before her son goes off to college and estimates she will spend close to $1,000 in New Hampshire, money she usually would have spent at the local stores in North Reading. “I just don’t understand in this economy why you’re hurting the retailers and customers even more. It’s worth it to me to drive the extra miles and save money,’’ Hemme said. “I’ve got a big tuition bill coming.’’

Some border merchants in New Hampshire say they are seeing a spike in sales since Massachusetts raised its sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent on Aug. 1, while other retailers in the Commonwealth are reporting double-digit drops in business compared with the same period last year. Massachusetts officials have estimated the tax increase would generate about $759 million this year to help fill holes in the state budget.  Already, the tax hike has become a hot political issue in next year’s gubernatorial race, with several candidates promising to roll back the increase.

August sales tax payments are not due to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue until Sept. 20, so it is too early to determine the effect of the sales tax increase. But the elimination of the annual sales-tax holiday – typically scheduled for this upcoming weekend – and the recent rate increase have Massachusetts merchants worried about a significant drop in sales at a time when they can least afford to lose business.

Dick Dube, owner of Dick’s TV & Appliance in Methuen, is projecting sales to plunge 50 percent compared with last August, about $100,000 worth.

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