Don't Toss out Turbine Regs

Just a reminder that the City Council will discuss the wind turbine ordinance tonight. This just came over the electronic transom from Ed Cameron, who chairs the committee:

The Committee and the Committee of the Whole agenda for tonight will be the Wind Energy Conversion Ordinance.

The format for the meeting will be as follows:

*there will be a signup sheet for public comment
*speakers will be taken in order with a time limit on each speaker
*speakers should state the specific change(s) they are proposing to the ordinance or that they support leaving the ordinance as is. Speakers should give the reasoning behind their request
*comments will be directed to the chair, not to other participants
written comments will also be accepted
*an additional meeting will be scheduled if necessary

Thank you,

Councillor Ed Cameron

It's clearly a good idea that this is getting a public airing again, but I have to admit. I still haven't heard a compelling reason to change the ordinance. I accept that the neighors across Route 1 don't appreciate the shadows being cast or the so-called flicker created by spin of the turbine's rotors.

Check out the videos presented on the Back Bay wind blog , particularly those showing the shadows being cast by the spinning rotors. (I'm eager to hear how long this flicker affect lasts. I assume it only occurs while the sun sets, but perhaps I'm wrong.) I still haven't heard much of a peep out of the turbine so I can't see noise really being an issue.

I know my fellow bloggers have had much to say. The barely anonymous P. Preservationist is gravely concerned about how a field of turbines would decrease the aesthetic value of the common pasture and presumably the entire community. He's got every right to his opinion, but I'll counter that the existing turbine hasn't lessened the city's charm one iota. In fact, I think it adds another interesting element. He will disagree. I will disagree, and so the dance begins. 

Meanwhile, Mary Baker Eaton --who thankfully has never been afraid to assign her name to her beliefs--asks the city to slow down and wait for new technologies to emerge, with her hope being the new turbines would be far less intrusive than the current 292-foot gorilla standing off Parker Road. This is certainly a reasonable position. But I question how close we are to seeing those technologies, and can we afford to wait. Certainly worth consideration.

I do have to agree that the city can't handle 22 of these monsters in the industrial park. That's the number of eligible sites identified by the city, but I'm not sure if protections in the bylaw would permit a complete build out of every eligible site.  Here's a Daily News article.

Perhaps the setbacks and buffers need to be tweaked to bring the total number down a bit, but I hope the city council doesn't toss out the new regs entirely. Is that really what the majority of residents would like to see?

Food Drive

Well, I received some positive preliminary reports from the weekend's PENNIES FOR POVERTY: 2 CENTS 4 CHANGE food drive. I'm sure we'll get some specific numbers in due time, but by Saturday afternoon the three-day campaign proved quite fruitful.

So kudos to the group for putting the effort together and a big thank you to Shaw's for making the process so simple. The store actually pays an employee to gather and bundle all the food in paper bags marked at $5 and $10, and the employees labels the content of the bags (baby food, veggies, etc.) Thanks also to anyone who grabbed a bag of food from my table near the cash registers on Saturday afternoon.

All and all, the food drive was a great effort and a nice, non-partisan way to at least partially alleviate an unfortunately growing problem.

Daily News Furloughs?

Interesting line in today's editorial in the Daily News. To recap, the editorial seeks to contrast the decisions by Newbury patrolman, whose union voted not to seek pay raises, and Triton teachers, whose union has yet to respond to an administration request that they rescind a negotiated 3% raise.

No one wants to give up their raises, or go on furloughs, or be laid off. We all get that. But these days we are all faced with the same hardship. Many of us have been put in the position of taking a financial hit in order to save the jobs of our colleagues. And many others have not had that option — they have lost their jobs.

.

I can't take this as flat out confirmation, but highlighted line certainly seems consistent with the reports that all employees of Community Newspaper Holdings are being required to take off five unpaid days by the end of June.

To its credit, the Richmond Register, a CNHI paper, opted to publish an article on the furloughs. It's curious that papers like the Daily News don't do the same (again I'm assuming the News got the memo, because the Richmond paper says all CNHI papers, and the DN is one.)

Sure, these are private insitutions in business structure, but I'm sure the Daily News would report on furloughs occurring in any private business. And I certainly would argue that the Daily News is as public an entity as any in the city. It's delivered to 13,000 doorsteps a day. How many other businesses impact 13,000 people per day? There's a community connection.

I first read about the furloughs on "The Turner Report" blog a week or so back. I've intended to blog on the subject but haven't had the time. If you're interested, the blogger has the entire memo issued by CEO Donna Barrett. Here's a tidbit.

A reduced work schedule will be implemented for hourly employees during the second quarter. Employees will take off five days without pay between April 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009. It is expected that no work will be done during this time. This applies to full and part-time employees. Part-time employees’ work schedules will be reduced on a prorated basis. These days off must be taken during the second quarter, and must be taken before any regular vacation or personal days. Regular vacation, personal and sick days may not be substituted for these unpaid days off.

You can read about it here and here a well.

As an aside, Barrett has been one of the leaders of the so-far feeble "Newspapers: We're not dead yet!" campaign. I sincerely hope the effort reinvigorates the industry, but I think the newspapers should spend less time with the rah-rahs and more time with innovation. I'll save details for a later post if anyone cares.

Back in The Day, the Daily News reporters actually belonged to the Communication Workers of America union. Far as I can tell, the union got swept aside with the Tribune took over and hasn't found its way back. Just to be clear, we had a fairly feeble union, and I can say that since I was one of the officers and chief negotiators, but we were still represented. I can't say for sure this wouldn't have happened if CWA were still in place, but CNHI would have had to ask, just as Triton is doing.

Food Drive is Underway

Attention folks,

PENNIES FOR POVERTY: 2 CENTS 4 CHANGE started its food drive today at Shaw's in Newburyport to collect non-perishable foods and needed items to be distributed to local food pantries.

Goods will be collected:

Today until 6:30 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. I'm planning to be down there tomorrow afternoon. Please say hello.

Distribution of the food to take place on Monday morning, March 30th from the Belleville Church.

If you have questions, call or email Eleanor Turke at (978)337-0364 or eleanor.turke@comcast.net.

Yee-Ha!

One of the big boats is being launched into the river, or pretty damn close to it.

SPRING!

And another...

new blog. This one's for the Democrats. Thanks to Ed Cameron for sending it along.

Wind Turbine Hearing

Busy time, but I did want to post this--as most everyone else has already done.

Please be advised that a Planning and Development Committee/Committee of the Whole has been posted for Tuesday, March 31 at 7pm, City Hall Auditorium. The primary topic will be Wind Energy and the City's Wind Energy Conversion ordinance.

Should be an interesting hearing.

Lyons Speaks

Per my earlier post, Supt. Kevin Lyons presents his case for leaving in today's Daily News. See here and here.

Just Funny

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Why is Lyons Leaving?

Kudos to the Daily News for getting an article out today. I was actually surprised they didn't send someone to Hudson for the vote. But I suppose they'd have a difficult time filing a story in time for the deadline.

Quick thoughts, I know the school committee members are reluctant to share details although the minutes from the executive session--assuming there are some--need to be made public per open meeting law now the Lyons is leaving.

But I hope Kevin Lyons opens up and explains why he's leaving. No doubt, the salary came into play. But if there's more to the story--including shortcomings here in Newburyport--than he should offer them up.

Parents put a great deal of faith into their educational leaders, definitely more so than any other department heads. I think this level of support needs to be rewarded with a higher degree of candor than we might get from other city leaders.

Update: Perhaps we'll learn more. Gillian Swart says she's talked with him.

Solar Stamp

I respectfully disagree with the school committee's backseat positioning on the solar panel deal. Daily News article here.

I can't say for sure whether or not this is a good deal for the city. The concerns over the roof seem legitimate. In any case, I can't fathom how school committee members could base their decision only on the matters Mayor Moak placed before them.

"We're not voting on rates or anything else in that contract," Menin said. "I'm going to vote to support this because I think I have a clear idea of my role in this."

Menin added that while questions of price and terms are valid issues, in his view those decisions were the sole right of the mayor to make, per his interpretation of Section 34 of the city charter.

"While (contract terms) are interesting and germane to me as a citizen, I'm not here as a citizen," Menin said. "Some people believe we're the court of last resort. I don't believe I have the option of doing that."

Moak repeatedly tried to clarify for members that their interest in the contract was limited to the one paragraph motion in front of them.

"The responsibility is on me," Moak said. "Your responsibility is what's stated."

Legally, the Mayor's interpretation is probably correct. Politically, however, these solar panels now belong to the schools. If they become an economic burden to the city in five or ten years, the school committee members at the time--not the mayor--will be held responsible.

And the school budget at the time will be tapped to make up for any dollars lost through the deal.

If school committee members feel the mayor is signing a good deal, fine. But if they truly have concerns about the term of the deal, they should have held onto the rubber stamp.

Bizzaro News

I just can't let this pass.

Did the Daily News, the one-time bastion of Republican ideals and Right Wing Think pushed by the windbags at the Eagle Tribune, really call for the imprisonment of the former Heroes of Capitalism at AIG?

I mean, I'm disgusted too, but toss folks in jail for giving and receiving bonuses?

We are through the looking glass people.


p.s. Every comment chain at the Daily News eventually settles on three topics: Obama, Yuppies, and City Workers.

Meet the New Blog

SOOooo, Mayor Moak apparently will try his hand at blogging.

The city's CEO will contribute one post a week to a new blog in town called Newburyport Today. The blog will be run by Kim Gobbi, who emailed a couple of bloggers earlier this week hoping to spread the word. Here's how she describes it.

We are working with the Mayor and the Chamber to publicize Newburyport's resources. We are centralizing the Calendar (city and all local non-profits listed for free), promoting city and chamber events for free, and both the Mayor and Ann will be guest bloggers for us once a week. We will have the Mayor post on Monday's (called Mondays with the Mayor) and Ann will post on Thursdays (called Chamber chat). There is also a substantial discount offered for banner ads if you are a chamber member.

The blog actually does a nice job of linking to calendars, including the one at the City of Newburyport page. I had plans to do that here and probably will at some point. It also lists to a city events calendar.

In her email, Kim Gobbi says she wanted to "emphasize that the content on this will not be political, opinion, or even news. It is simply meant to chronicle and record events that happen around the city. Our goal is to give residents a central place to go for information. Also we would love for locals to spend money locally so would like to promote local business."

Noble goals. I look forward to hearing what the mayor has to say. If it's going to be interesting it'll have to incorporate some degree of politics, but we'll see what he delivers. At this point, the blog has a comments function, so folks may have a direct line to the mayor if he opts to read his comments.

I'm adding it to the blog roll.

Hudson Hires Lyons

Kevin Lyons was the overwhelming favorite pick to lead the Hudson Schools, according to the MetroWest Daily News.

The board voted 6-1 in favor of Lyons over Agawam Superintendent Mary Czajkowski. Despite the one dissenting vote, the committee was unanimous in its assessment of Lyons as a strong pick to lead Hudson schools.

"Dr. Lyons is a match in every way on my checklist," board member Susan Dunnell said.

"Both candidates were very strong," School Committee Chairman Tom Green said. "But I thought Dr. Lyons' presentation and his experience made him the ideal candidate."

The superintendent selection is contingent on contract negotiations, reference checks and a site visit, school officials said.

Sad as it is to say, this is probably for the best. He'd be a lame duck superintendent in most people's eyes if he stuck around.

I don't follow the schools closely enough, so I honestly don't know what his legacy he'll leave. I guess it would be difficult to build a legacy in only three years, but he certainly left an impact by overseeing the closing of the Kelley.

Cuckoo for Cuckoo's Nest

I'm a huge fan of businesses that go above and beyond. For example, if I store stays open a few minutes late so I can pick up a crucial item, I'm their's. Grand Trunk has done it. So has the Natural Dog and Village Pet Shop. Conversely, I also hold ridiculously huge grudges against businesses that don't honor me--the regular customer.

(I still haven't forgotten the one experience when during my exile when I pulled off 95 to grab a coffee at Cafe Bagel, formerly at Port Plaza. It was 6:45 p.m. The shop closed at 7 p.m. but the doors were locked. The two teenage girls cleaning behind the counter just shrugged when I stared through the door. I'm a small man. I never forgave them and....well, look what happened.)

Anyway, the Cuckoo's Nest earned a place in my honor roll on Saturday. On the way to a birthday party in New Hampshire, I went downtown looking to buy a Celtics or Red Sox outfit for the birthday boy: the two-year-old son of of a very good friend of mine. I wanted to hit the Cuckoo's Nest because I knew they'd have what I wanted.

The Boy, who was the guest at the party, and I met up with a friend who, after hearing my plans, dropped the bomb that the Cuckoo's Nest had vacated its State Street quarters. Only then did I remember that the store was moving up to Pleasant Street at the former Market Flair site. I only hoped the move was complete, and the store was open.

My hopes were dashed. As I rounded the corner of State and Pleasant I spotted the brown paper covering the windows. We forged ahead anyway, hoping to get the full story. Once we were in front of the store we saw the note that told us the store would open sometime in March, but it offered no further details.

Peering through the gaps between the paper and the door frame, we eyed merchandise hanging neatly on the walls of the store. We also hear a fairly large crowd inside, but the store was clearly closed. Still, we stayed and we hoped.

I proceeded to tell my friend--in a louder than normal voice--how badly I needed to buy something for this birthday boy. Where oh where would I find an authentic Celtics jersey or Red Sox outfit for a two-year-old with the party starting in just a few minutes.

Just then, the door opened. A family lined out of the store and the store's owner--never got her name--asked if we needed help and offered that the store would open in a week. I made a dumb joke about waiting outside until the day came, and then explained my plight. You know where this is going.

She immediately let me in the store, allowed me to pick out an outfit and even gave The Boy, who thankfully is too young to be embarrassed by his father, a free baseball that screams out Joe Castiglione's famous call of the final play of the 2004 World Series. (I never get tired of hearing that.) She was even ready to take my debit card.

I recognize this doesn't rank high in the list of humanitarian efforts. But I thought it was a very nice effort by a very nice lady who is opening a very nice shop this weekend. Make sure you check it out.

The birthday boy loved the outfit, btw. Thanks Cuckoo's Nest.

UPDATE: Walked by this morning. CN appears to be open now.

Just a shame

I obviously was disappointed this weekend when I read the Daily News article that Kevin Lyons was a finalist for a job in Hudson. I never met the man, and I doubt I'd recognize him if he stood next to me in line for coffee. But his considerable reputation more than made up for the lack of personal contact. (Scratch that, I found the photo.) In short, I felt lucky to have him.

That reputation clearly took a hit this weekend, at least in my eyes. 
I am not one of those people who confuses civil servants with indentured servants. I truly believe every professional has the right to follow their career onward and upward at some point in time.

But is this that point in time? Lyons and the school committee just took some TNT to the school system by closing the Kelley School. In my eyes, and I think in the eyes of many parents I talk to, the dust is still settling from the explosion. Folks don't seem entirely satisfied with the Rock Band like tour students will be making on their way to High School graduations. (Brown-Brez-Molin-Nock-HS, I can see the T-shirt sales now.)

I'm not sure Lyons had any plans--or saw any need--to iron those or any other wrinkles out. But it seems to me that he hasn't finished his business here. Yet, he saw fit to toss his name into consideration for another job.

Yes, I believe him when he says he didn't seek the job, but he still gave the go ahead and presumably interviewed for the position. He can't be drafted to serve as the Hudson School Superintendent.

He could have said thanks for the consideration but my work here isn't done yet. But he didn't, so now we're left with a lesser leader no matter what the Hudson School Committee decides tomorrow.

Or what our school committee decides tonight. Gillian Swart reporting that the school committee is now in executive session for the purpose of contract negotiation with Lyons. I don't the school's overall cause will be helped at all if Lyons pursuit of the new job leads to a sudden pay raise for the superintendent. His graceful rejection of earlier raises will be forgotten. Perhaps all this also will be if he stays for a raise.

But I doubt it.

UPDATE: Here is the Daily News' account.

Landfill Legacy

I just don't know where I stand with the landfill. I've been fairly critical of the mayor for many past actions, but I'm not sure if there's any other way out of this mess.

(As an aside I should give credit where it's due. Gillian Swart has been all over this issue, both at The Current and her blog.)

Bottom line, this is now the mayor's legacy. All his talk of prudent fiscal management and responsible stewardship will wash away quickly as time passes. I think this is the one of those enduring issues that will plague a politician for the rest of his days.

This might be the inversion of the old saying, "Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan." If Mayor Moak's gambit works, he's likely to get any credit down the line. If this ends poorly, it'll be his problem alone, even though he didn't create the mess in the first place.

I recognize that's little comfort to the neighbors who truly have to live with the outcome.

But perhaps their burden should be shared a bit. We should require every truck headed to the landfill to take exit 57, drive down Storey Ave. and High Street, take a left on Green Street and make a stop at City Hall. Not only can the mayor inspect the loads himself from his office window, but we can all get a taste of what's being dumped in our city.

Unemployment

I have to say, this often unemployment stat by the Daily News seems fairly meaningless.

Newburyport's unemployment rate for January was 6.2 percent, meaning 604 Newburyporters are without jobs. Amesbury was slightly higher at 7.8 percent, or 668 people.

I'm not sure if people can remain in Newburyport if they lose their job. Do we have an unnaturally low unemployment rate?

Path to Progress

I just have the feeling this idea will drive the preservationists batty, and I'm not sure why. But here goes.

I hereby propose that some entity, be it the city, chamber or NED, should partner up with the Daily News to provide a Port in Progress Path, or perhaps a Path to Progress.

Here's what it would entail. Taking the various photos, articles and content offered throughout the Port in Progress series (which offered a detailed history of the saving and restoring of some of downtown) and turning them into displays to be attached to the side of our historic buildings.

For example, the first installment on the Arthur Page building--including photos of the building prior to the renovation--would be affixed to the side of the building itself, along with a summary of the article. This would give visitors and resident an idea of just how much work had been done to restore the downtown.

The exhibit could go even further and pay homage to the parts of the downtown that didn't survive the process.

I suspect some will suggest this is gimmicky, but I really do think the past 40 years brought some exciting changes to the city. It might be nice to remind and educate folks about that from time-to-time.

Catching Up on Solar Panels

I'd just like to pat the backs of the school committee for insisting on seeing the details to the solar deal. I can't find the link to the Daily News article, but here's the editorial on the matter.

For the life of me I can't understand why this contract is being treated as such a state secret. Perhaps the mayor is concerned that sharing the details will open up a can of questions, concerns and considerations.

If so, good.

Wind Turbine

No doubt, we'll have more on this topic. But I just have to say this.

I drive by the wind turbine nearly every day, and I still haven't heard a sound. Today, the rotors were spinning at the fastest rate I've seen yet, so I pulled behind one of the buildings on Graf Road and listened. 

I still couldn't hear anything. So I shut off my car engine and only then could I detect a slight whir. The windmill was facing me, so perhaps the noise is louder on the back side?

I'm planning to examine further when conditions are better (worse?). I'll drive up to the Hill Street neighborhood to get a first-hand view and listen.

Update: Happened upon a new blog from the Back Bay Folks. It's on the blog roll.

Taking a Hit

Kevin Cullen, a longtime fav of mine at the Globe, has a great column today, telling of employee meeting at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Prompted by CEO Paul Levy, BI employees enthusiastically endorsed the suggestion that they take cuts in benefits to help save jobs.

There's no direct connection between BI and Newburyport. But it seemed quite topical given the cuts in Amesbury, the proposed cuts and Trition, and the ongoing saga about whether Newburyport employees accept a lesser health plans.

I'm Back

I apologize for being silent for so long. Spent the past week in Las Vegas and Houston, visiting friends/doing work/visiting family. Not only did I miss the two finest days of the year, but I returned to snow in my driveway and a dead furnace.

But I did have several helpful neighbors take care of the joint while I was gone, so thanks much to them.