Parking garage permit

March 23, 2008

The Licensing Commission is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. to consider a petroleum storage application from Parkside Commons Apartments Ltd. The application pertains to a certificate of occupancy for a 100,000-square-foot ground-level parking garage with 308 spaces. Currently under construction, Parkside Commons is a 238-unit, four-story rental complex along the city's waterfront that is scheduled to open in the spring. Developers say the complex is eco-friendly because of its use of "green" construction principles. The licensing meeting is scheduled to be held at the Chelsea Public Library, Shultz Room, 569 Broadway. - Katheleen Conti

GATEWAY TO THE CITY - Ten students from Vanderbilt University in Nashville recently spent their spring break in Everett, volunteering to help the city develop a welcoming brochure for new residents and businesses. The students were taking part in an alternative spring break program working on community projects, according to Marzie Galazka, Everett's director of community development and planning. She said the seven-day visit was arranged and overseen by Cambridge Health Alliance, the organization that owns Everett's Whidden Hospital, and the students were housed at the rectory of Our Lady of Grace church. During their stay, they interviewed city officials and attended Common Council, Board of Aldermen, and School Committee meetings. Using information collected by the students, the city will work with Cambridge Health Alliance, the Joint Committee for Children's Health Care in Everett, and other nonprofit organizations to finish the project. The city expects to fund the brochure with part of a $100,000 marketing grant from the state Office of Travel and Tourism. The brochure will include information useful to new residents about the city's schools, trash collection, and other services, and information helpful to businesses, such as loan programs from the Everett Chamber of Commerce. - John Laidler

HELP IN MORTGAGE SQUEEZE - Foreclosure prevention is among the topics the Highlands Coalition will discuss tomorrow at its meeting. The neighborhood off Western Avenue has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis rocking the housing market. Steps to keep a home off the auction block will be discussed. Also, a staff member from Lynn Housing and Neighborhood Development will advise 21 homeowners on Rockaway Street, each of whom received $3,000 grants to fix up their homes, about how to claim their money. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Robert L. Ford School, 49 Hollingsworth St. - Kathy McCabe

OPENING UP THE WATERFRONT - Waterfront zoning tops the Planning Board and City Council agendas on Tuesday. High-rise apartment buildings, hotels, conference centers, retail, and office space would be among the new uses allowed in the zone. At 6:30 p.m., the Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed new zoning, then forward its recommendation to the City Council. At 8 p.m., the council will hold a public hearing on the issue. The Planning Board will meet in Room 302 at City Hall. The City Council will meet in the council chamber. - Kathy McCabe

BASEBALL TEAM SEEKS BEER LICENSE - The Licensing Board on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on the application filed by the North Shore Navigators baseball team to sell beer and wine at Fraser Field. Other public hearings on the agenda include a beer-and-wine license application filed by EMI Convenience Store, at 555 Summer St., and a request by the Walnut Street Cafe to expand its beer-and-wine license to include the sale of cordials and liqueurs. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Lynn Police Station, 300 Washington St. - Kathy McCabe

CHEVERUS, MALDEN CATHOLIC COLLABORATE - The city's two Catholic schools, Malden Catholic High and the K-8 Cheverus Centennial, are teaming up to offer expanded academic, extracurricular, and social opportunities for students and staff. Collaborative activities have been planned for the remainder of the school year and include activities such as shared faculty development sessions, intramurals, and student mentoring programs. Malden Catholic headmaster Thomas P. Arria cited the schools' shared Catholic identity and "tradition of academic excellence" in announcing the partnership. Cheverus principal Susan Degnan seconded the collaboration, saying: "The relationship with Malden Catholic gives Cheverus an advantage because it will enable us to augment existing programs with a wider spectrum of opportunities for our students." - Erin Ailworth

GETTING SMARTER AT HIGH SCHOOL - The city is planning to install Smart Board interactive whiteboards in all high school classrooms as part of a fiscal 2009 school capital improvement plan. The Board of Aldermen last week approved Mayor Robert J. Dolan's request that the city be authorized to borrow $1.4 million for the plan. In addition to the boards, the plan calls for an electrical upgrade at the high school that would enable the building to accommodate their use along with other new technology. It also provides for the addition of new computer labs at the Winthrop and Hoover elementary schools, and the purchase of three portable Smart Boards at the Horace Mann Elementary School. Classrooms at the new Middle School already have Smart Boards. Dolan said the investment is part of a three-year plan to upgrade the 35-year-old high school's physical plant and instructional technology. The city is making educational needs a priority this year, according to the mayor, noting that his fiscal 2009 budget, set to be unveiled on April 7, will include about a $900,000 increase in school spending. - John Laidler

DPW ETHICS HEARING TO BEGIN - A State Ethics Commission hearing to address bribery allegations against a Department of Public Works employee is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and continue through Wednesday. The hearing was rescheduled and extended to three days because of the long list of subpoenas handed out by the commission and William F. Spallina, the attorney representing DPW general foreman Joseph Maglione. Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino placed Maglione on paid administrative leave last December when allegations surfaced that Maglione requested and accepted payments for private drain-laying work performed by DPW foremen Randy Adamson and Anthony Giannino Jr. between 2002 and 2005. Adamson and Giannino, who have since resigned, each paid an $8,000 fine to the commission after admitting to receiving compensation for private work that they were not licensed to do, and paying bribes to Maglione to allow the work to continue. Maglione denies all allegations. The hearings are open to the public and will be held at the commission's office, Room 619, 1 Ashburton Place, Boston. - Katheleen Conti

PAVING WAY FOR STARBUCKS - The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on Starbucks' request for a common victualer's license to open at The Shops at Saugus, a shopping center being built at the former Caruso Diplomat property on Route 1 north. The plan calls for the coffee shop to share a building with Qdoba Mexican Grill. The hearing will consider only Starbucks' portion of the property. The board meets at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Town Hall. - Kathy McCabe

CENSUS REMINDER - Town Clerk Mary K. Galvin is reminding residents to return their 2008 census forms. The forms were mailed to all Wakefield households in mid-January. Returning the census is required for residents to maintain active voter status and to qualify for veterans' and housing benefits. The town uses the census for planning and in applying for state and US grants. For more information, call the clerk's office at 781-246-6383. - John Laidler

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS - The annual public financial forum is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Senior Center, 35 Harvard St. Town officials are expected to talk about the tight budget anticipated for fiscal year 2009 and other finance matters, while also addressing questions from residents. The new budget year begins July 1. - Katheleen Conti

VOKE STUDENTS HELP OUT - Students in the metal fabrication shop at the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School in Wakefield recently began retrofitting a Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department truck so that it can carry a wood chipper. The chipper will be used by the department's line workers when they remove branches and tree limbs from wires and transformers. Vincent Carisella, Wakefield's representative to the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Committee, served as a liaison between the school and the Gas & Light Department to get the project underway. - John Laidler

GALLAGHER NAMED PRINCIPAL - Sean Gallagher, who has served as acting principal at Beverly High School, has been named principal by Superintendent James Hayes Jr. Gallagher, who served as dean of students and athletic director for the Salem public schools, holds a bachelor's degree from Salem State College and a master's degree from Endicott College. Gallagher became acting principal last August when Carla Scuzzarella became principal at North Andover High School. - Steven Rosenberg

NEW LEBEL'S GROVE PLAN - A retirement community providing independent and assisted living options for people 62 and older is now being proposed for Lebel's Grove, 23 acres on the Middleton line. The developer has scrapped a controversial plan to build a 55 and older condo complex on the site. The 236-unit development is not allowed under local zoning though, so special zoning would have to be created. The Planning Board will continue its review of the proposal at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. - Kathy McCabe

DESIGNER PICKED FOR BOARDWALK - The landscaping and design for a planned downtown boardwalk and rail trail along the Merrimack River will be done by Crosby, Schlessinger, Smallridge LLC. The Boston firm designed much of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a series of green spaces above the Big Dig in Boston, according to a news release from Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini. Development of the Haverhill project is expected to begin this summer. - Erin Ailworth

WIND PROJECT GETS A LIFT - Selectmen Monday reacted favorably - but took no vote on - a proposed school system-town wind turbine project that may be presented at Town Meeting May 13. The board did vote for a letter to be sent to the YMCA in support of tax credits for the Powderhouse Village affordable housing development; approved the relocation of an electric pole on Pine Swamp Road; and approved the application for an automatic bowling machine for the Polish League of American Veterans. -David Rattigan

TWO STATE GRANTS RECEIVED - The town was recently awarded two state planning grants. The Department of Housing and Community Development is providing $40,000 to study the possible creation of one or more smart growth zoning districts. The state law, Chapter 40R, encourages the creation of such districts, where streamlined permitting is intended to spur dense residential or mixed-use growth in suitable locations. The state's Seaport Advisory Council awarded the town $30,000 to develop a municipal harbor plan. - John Laidler

FIXING THE BRIDGES - The town's engineering consultant on the project to replace three storm-damaged bridges presented the Board of Selectmen with a timetable for the project last week. The Dodge Road, Batchelder Brook, and Taylor bridges were damaged during the Mother's Day storm in 2006. Jacobs Edwards and Kelcey of Boston said it will provide final specifications and cost estimates to the town and the Mass. Highway Department Tuesday. The firm anticipates receiving comments from MassHighway by April 21. The town would then advertise for construction bids on April 28, open the bids May 15, and award a contract May 23. The tentative date for construction to begin is June 1. - John Laidler