Awards night in Chelsea

The seventh annual All-Chelsea Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall. City Manager Jay Ash collects nominations to showcase individuals and organizations that have given of themselves to improve the city. Awards are given to residents in different age groups, a public official, a business or business person, an organization, and project of the year, among other categories. Three lifetime achievement awards also will be presented. - Katheleen Conti

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS ON WAY - The Boys & Girls Clubs of Middlesex County is coming to Everett. Under an arrangement between the city and the Somerville-based nonprofit, the organization will shortly be establishing an office in Everett's Sammy Gentile Recreation Center on Elm Street, according to Matt Laidlaw, the city's communications director. The Boys & Girls Clubs will offer programming for young people to supplement the city's Recreation Department, which also is located in the center. The department and the nonprofit also will do some joint programming. Laidlaw said the clubs were able to come to the city through $50,000 in grants from the group's national organization, and $40,000 in state grants secured by state Representative Stephen "Stat" Smith of Everett and state Senator Anthony D. Galluccio of Cambridge. He said the eventual goal is for the organization to have its own site in Everett. - John Laidler

MBTA SEMINAR - The city is holding a Charlie Card Seminar Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Connolly Center, 90 Chelsea St. Representatives from the MBTA will be available to answer questions about Charlie Cards and tickets. They will also be issuing new Charlie Card identifications for seniors and people with qualifying disabilities. Anyone with identifications issued prior to May 2005 needs to obtain a new ID. For more information, call 617-394-2323 or 617-394-2260. - John Laidler

LONGER RESTAURANT HOURS - The City Council on Tuesday will consider applications for extended hours of operation, seven days per week, filed by four businesses. George's Roast Beef, 124 Broad St., wants to open from 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Dunkin' Donuts at 364 Lynnway wants to open 24 hours; Lynn House of Roast Beef, 16 Market St., and People's Choice, 17 Market Square, both want to open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. The council's Committee on Minor Licenses will hold public hearings during a meeting scheduled for 7:15 p.m., in Room 402 at City Hall. The committee's recommendation will be presented to the full council, which will meet at 8 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall. - Kathy McCabe

ZONING REQUESTS - The Zoning Board will meet on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m in Room 302 at City Hall. Agenda items include a public hearing on a request to convert the first floor of a building at 542 Eastern Ave. into three residential units. The first floor now has two residences and a medical office. The board also will hold a public hearing on a request to add six parking spaces at 23 Broad St., an area zoned for apartment houses. - Kathy McCabe

BETTER SOCIAL SKILLS - How to enhance the social skills of special needs students is the topic of a workshop that the Parents Advisory Council is holding Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. at the Lynnfield Preschool special services' office at the rear of the senior center, 525 Salem St. Brian Gordon, director of the North Shore ARC's Spotlight social skills program, will be the guest speaker. He will give an overview of the program, and discuss deficits and strategies for improving social skills at home and in school. The council is a group of parents and teachers that works to maximize educational opportunities for special needs students. The meeting is open to all school parents.

- John Laidler

FORMER MILITARY SITE TO BE SOLD - At Special Town Meeting Monday night, residents voted, 166-40, in favor of a $2,202,062 sale of the former military housing property to developer Bass Point Residences LLC, which intends to build a 28-unit "friendly 40B" development with 25 percent of the units affordable. The town purchased the property in 2004 for $2 million. The sale price will cover remaining debt from the purchase of the property, with a projected $282,479 remaining for the town's general fund. According to a report from the town's Advisory & Finance Committee, which supported the sale, sale profit plus anticipated real estate taxes could net the town $1 million in revenues between fiscal year 2010 and 2015. -David Rattigan

POLES COMING DOWN - City officials are working to remove nearly 300 potentially dangerous double utility poles in Malden. Workers will be tackling the job three days a week or more, weather permitting, to complete the project as quickly as possible. The city has allocated $15,000, a figure that is likely to cover only a third of the work required. City Council members have asked Fire Chief Michael Murphy, who is overseeing the project, to divide the work in a way that will ensure all areas of the city progress at the same pace. Under state law, double poles are supposed to be removed within 90 days of their installation. Typically, double poles are installed when older poles are unable to carry all wires required to provide service, or when they are damaged, usually by storms or vehicles. - Brenda J. Buote

JOINING IN DEVELOPMENT FIGHT - The city has joined a lawsuit filed by the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation against The Gutierrez Co. and Simpson Housing over the future of the former Boston Regional Medical Center site in Stoneham. Gutierrez and Simpson are seeking to create a development called Langwood Commons that would include 405 residential units and 225,000 square feet of office space. The project has been embroiled in court battles with the state and local environmental groups for the past eight years. In the latest legal skirmish, the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation and Melrose officials say the project should be subject to a state environmental review, echoing the position of Ian A. Bowles, the state's secretary of energy and environmental affairs. Gutierrez and Simpson say the project is not subject to such a review because state permits are not required for the development. The companies in September jointly filed a lawsuit against Bowles, seeking relief from having to undergo an environmental review that Bowles contends is required under the Massachusetts Enviornmental Protection Act. The lawsuit brought by the Friends group and the city of Melrose was filed late last month in response to the developers' legal challenge to the review. - Brenda J. Buote

CABLE COMPLAINTS - The City Council's Economic Development Subcommittee is scheduled to meet with Comcast representatives at 5 p.m. tomorrow at City Hall to discuss complaints about channel lineup changes. Councilor at Large Daniel Rizzo, who chairs the subcommittee, said residents have complained that some of their favorite standard cable channels have been eliminated as the company makes the move to digital programming. The changes are being made nationwide because many of Comcast's services, such as high-speed Internet, require a digital signal. Standard cable subscribers have been told they can get some of the lost channels back by paying an additional $4 or $5 a month, Rizzo said. Of particular concern to Rizzo are complaints coming from a nursing home, where the additional monthly fee would apply to every room. Rizzo acknowledges that he cannot force the company to restore the old channels, but said he hopes Comcast receives the message and does something about it. Rizzo said he would also like to talk to neighboring communities affected by the changes to see if they can do something together. - Katheleen Conti

NOT SO FAST - Financial articles will be up for discussion when a Special Town Meeting reconvenes tomorrow. The town's Finance Committee, concerned about the state's economic crisis, has recommended members delay action on most major financial articles. One article requests the town issue $150,000 in bonds to make sidewalks and streets handicapped-accessible to comply with the American With Disabilities Act. The Finance Committee is recommending the article be referred to Town Meeting in May, or to a future town meeting. Tomorrow's meeting is at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Town Hall.

- Kathy McCabe

SWITCHING SIDES - The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on the Border Cafe's application to open at the new Shops at Saugus plaza on Route 1 north. The Tex-Mex restaurant is relocating from its longtime spot on Route 1 south. The restaurant has applied to the board to transfer its liquor license to the new location. The hearing will be held as part of the board's meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Town Hall.

- Kathy McCabe

TAX RATES MAY RISE - The town has established a residential tax rate of $10.43 per $1,000 valuation and a commercial rate of $21.05 per $1,000 for fiscal 2009, both subject to approval by the state Department of Revenue. The assessors office set the rate based on a vote by the Board of Selectmen at its tax classification hearing Monday. The town holds the state-mandated hearing each year to decide whether to set different tax rates for residents and businesses, and if so, how much of the residential burden to shift to businesses. Selectmen opted to maintain the highest shift to businesses allowable, which for this fiscal year means they would pay 75 percent more in taxes than if there was a single rate, according to Victor Santaniello, the town's director of assessments. The fiscal 2008 residential rate was $9.65 per $1,000 valuation, and the commercial rate $19.28 per $1,000. Based on the anticipated fiscal 2009 rate, the owner of an average single-family home valued at $398,900 would pay $4,160 this year. That represents a $59 increase over the $4,101 the owner of an average single-family home valued at $425,000 would have paid last year. - John Laidler

AUTHOR TO SPEAK - Novelist and short-story writer Jennifer Haigh will speak Dec. 4 at the Beebe Library, 345 Main St., at 7 p.m. A resident of the Boston area, Haigh won the 2003 PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction for her first book, "Mrs. Kimble." Her second, "Baker Towers," was a New York Times bestseller and won a 2005 L.L. Winship/PEN Award for an outstanding book by a New England author. Her latest novel is "The Condition." Sponsored by the Friends of the Beebe Library, her talk is free and open to the public, with no reservations required. For more information, call 781-246-6334, or go to www.wakefieldlibrary.org.

- John Laidler

WHITE IS JOB HUNTING - Dennis town officials recently announced that Winthrop Town Manager Richard White is among four finalists for the town administrator position. Dennis officials are scheduling interviews and hope to make a selection by next month, interim Town Administrator Warren Rutherford said. White, whose contract in Winthrop expires in June 2009, also was a finalist for the town manager position in Westford in June. A Winthrop Town Council subcommittee recommended that White's contract should be extended through 2011, but that motion has been withdrawn due to a lack of support from the majority of the City Council. - Katheleen Conti

DEVELOPMENT HEARING - The Planning Board is scheduled to continue hearings on the redevelopment of the former Winthrop Hospital site at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Senior Center, 35 Harvard St. Among the issues for discussion are parking concerns and the number of proposed residential units. Winthrop Cove Realty Trust wants to develop 78 units on the site. - Katheleen Conti