MAYOR’S UPDATE
April 26, 2021
Mayor Donna D. Holaday
FY22 Budget Update: We continue to work towards finalizing the FY22 budget to be delivered to the City Council electronically on the day of your next meeting on May 10th. We have also been coordinating with Councillor Zeid and have all the Department Heads scheduled and available to answer questions during the budget workshop sessions. The School Department will hold a budget hearing tomorrow night April 27th and will be voting on the school budget on May 3rd.
The House Ways and Means released their FY22 budget proposal on the April 15th. Unfortunately, despite the news reports about the House increasing Chapter 70 aid over what the Governor proposed, Newburyport does not benefit. In fact, since our Charter School Sending Tuition (assessment) went up, our net state aid actually went down by $12,646 compared to what the Governor had proposed.
VACCINE UPDATE: Over 19,000 vaccinations have been administered through the Lower Merrimack Valley Regional Collaborative. We are in the planning stages of moving the Clinic to the Nock Molin School on weekends. The Beth Israel Lahey clinic will continue at the Senior Center as well through the end of May. As of last Thursday, according to the state’s latest report, 63% of Newburyport residents have received one dose of the vaccine and 44% are fully vaccinated.
Plum Island: GZA our engineering consultant continues to work on the MEPA permitting for the short-term protective project for Reservation Terrace of wood pilings and coir bags. To be included with this project was the removal of the super sacs currently on site along Reservation Terrace. However, permitting is taking longer than anticipated so I have reached out to MassDOT and DCR to assist the city in renting the needed equipment for beach access and to provide staff to assist city DPS workers in removal of the sacs. Permitting continues to move forward on the Army Corps of Engineers dredge project of the Merrimack River with the anticipation of work commencing mid to late fall.
Newburyport Schools: As of today, the entire School District is back to in person learning for all families that choose to attend in-person.
We have also been notified by the MSBA that our Statement of Interest request for the science labs and new roof at the High School was not accepted. We are planning to resubmit a new SOI for these projects to the MSBA. The SOI would need to be voted on by both the School Committee and the City Council prior to submission. I will keep the Council informed by that timeline and we plan to resubmit the SOI for the next MSBA round before the end of May.
Shared Streets: The parklets will be completed this week. All that is left is planting the planters that were placed onsite earlier this morning. In addition, the pedestrian improvements at the intersection of State Street and Pleasant Street will be wrapping up. Three of the four “corners” will be completed by the end of the week and the final corner by Richdale’s will be completed by the end of next week.
Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting: I will be giving a presentation of the current state of the City at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony this Wednesday night.
I am also happy to report that our Health Director Frank Giacalone will be receiving the Chamber’s Community Hero Award for his hard work and dedication taking on the COVID-19 pandemic locally. The award is given annually to local advocates to increase and promote opportunities for safety, best practices, and resources. Congratulations Frank!
I’d also like to thank outgoing President Frank Cousins on his tenure leading the Chamber and our business community through very tough and uncertain times. Frank and I worked very closely over the last year to help support out local businesses and aid in their recovery. Thank you Frank and I look forward to working with the Chamber’s new president, Katie O’Connor Ives.