Water works in Beverly

The City Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 to discuss Mayor William Scanlon's $3.5 million North Beverly Brook drainage improvement project. The aim is to alleviate flooding and other drainage problems along streets near the brook, in part by cleaning up debris dumped into it. Also included in the costs are cleanup projects at Kelleher's Pond and Chubbs Brook.

- Steven Rosenberg

NIES NAMED INSPECTOR - The Board of Selectmen has decided on a successor to Kenneth Ward, who retired in August as inspector of buildings. Selectmen Monday named Jay C. Nies as their prime choice for the job. The board tapped Nies from among 30 candidates and four finalists for the position. The owner of Cedar Concepts, a construction company in Wenham, Nies served as interim assistant building inspector in Ipswich in 2003. Nies, who begins work Dec. 1, will earn an annual salary of $43,450. -John Laidler

PROPERTY TAX INCREASE - Homeowners on average will pay $125 more in taxes this fiscal year. A typical business will pay $840 more. The hikes result from a new tax classification factor set last week by the Board of Selectmen. The new residential tax rate is $11.21 per $1,000 valuation. The business/commercial rate is $16.60 per $1,000. The average tax bill on a single-family home valued at $390,200 will be $4,374. The average commercial/industrial tax bill, based on property valued at $1.4 million, will be $23,240. - Kathy McCabe

START THE CELEBRATION - The kickoff celebration for the town's 375th anniversary takes place today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hellenic Center on County Road. Tickets at the door are $50. Sponsored by The First National Bank of Ipswich, the event will feature an 18th century reenactor, silent and live auctions, music, and refreshments. At the celebration, the 375th Anniversary Committee plans to present the schedule of year-round events to commemorate the anniversary. For information, go to www.ipswichma375.org. -David Rattigan

PAPER, NO PLASTIC - The city will hold its annual curbside leaf pickup from Dec. 1--5. Leaves should be placed in large paper bags or in barrels and left curbside with trash and recycling material on regular trash pickup day. Leaves in plastic bags will not be accepted. - Steven Rosenberg

HOME BUYING WORKSHOP - Community Action Inc. is scheduled to offer a four-night educational workshop for area first-time home buyers beginning Dec. 1. Participants will hear from housing professionals, including bank lenders, real estate brokers, housing attorneys, insurance agents, home inspectors, and credit counselors. Among the many topics to be covered in the workshop: mortgage prequalification; foreclosure sales; area affordable housing lotteries; the services of a buyer broker; down payment assistance programs; and reduced interest loans. Participants who complete the program will be awarded a state-approved certificate. The dates for the course are Dec. 1; Dec. 3; Dec. 8; and Dec. 10. Each class runs from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Presidential Gardens Community Room, 140 Evergreen Drive, in the city's Bradford neighborhood. The cost is $50 per household. There are no income requirements to take the course. For more information, call Richard Lynch at 978-373-1971 or Susan Collins Hanley at 978-317-8998. - Brenda J. Buote

GET RID OF THE LEAVES - The Department of Public Works is advising residents that the town compost site on upper School Street will close for the season after regular hours on Dec. 6. The site is open to residents on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents are reminded that if they use plastic bags to transport leaves or other yard waste, those bags must be removed from the site after their contents are emptied. A Manchester resident sticker is required to access the compost area. -John Laidler

FILLING CHILDREN'S STOCKINGS - Community of Friends is off to a good start with its annual stocking drive. The volunteer charitable organization each holiday season seeks donations of gift-filled stockings to distribute to children in need in surrounding communities. This year, the group has set a goal of serving 530 children. To date, about 130 have been sponsored. Community of Friends provides each participant with a stocking and a tag containing information about the child who will be receiving it. The participant is then asked to return the stocking filled with gifts. This year, stockings should be turned in by Dec. 15 at one of five designated locations, or at the Community of Friends' table at Abbot Hall during Christmas Walk Dec. 6-7. Go to www.communityoffriends.org, or call John Wilder at 781-639-3664

- John Laidler

MEET AT THE LIBRARY - The Flint Public Library has established a policy governing use of its new meeting rooms. As part of its recently completed $7.2 million renovation and expansion, the library has added a large meeting room that seats 114 people and can be divided in half. It also has a new quiet study room that seats six. Among the rules are that the meeting rooms be designed for groups that engage in educational, cultural, intellectual, or charitable activities, and that all meetings must be free and open to the public. Library staff are set to begin taking reservations for use of the meeting rooms around the start of the new year. - John Laidler

MORE TROUBLE FOR LANDFILL - The office of Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a complaint in Suffolk Superior Court against the Crow Lane Landfill, alleging that the operator is in contempt of a preliminary injunction previously entered by the court in October 2006. The contempt complaint seeks an order directing New Ventures Associates, LLC, to take immediate steps to control leachate, a foul-smelling liquid that drains from the landfill; respond to odor complaints; and to operate the landfill gas control system to properly filter noxious hydrogen sulfide emissions that continue to threaten the health and safety of people living near the facility. The court's preliminary injunction in response to a 2006 lawsuit required the landfill operator to install pretreatment controls to stop the spread of the hydrogen sulfide gas and to cap the landfill on an expedited schedule. The state shut down the landfill for failure to comply with that injunction on several occasions in 2006 and 2007, and the site has been shut down since July 2007.

- Brenda J. Buote

SURVIVORS SPEAK - Students from area high schools will hear eyewitness testimony from three survivors of genocide when the Holocaust Center, Boston North presents a Human Rights Awareness program at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School auditorium tomorrow. Saoun Soeun, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, Claude Kaitare, who lived through the Rwandan genocide, and Sonia Weitz, who survived the Holocaust, will speak at the reservation-only event, scheduled for 8:15-11:15 a.m. The high school hosts the annual event, which is sponsored by the Peabody-based Holocaust Center.

- John Laidler

LIGHT IT UP - The Christmas in Rockport Committee has made a public appeal for donations to replenish the Holiday Decorations Fund, which pays for seasonal ornamentation downtown. The committee hopes to raise $2,000, surpassing last year's $1,600. Donations will be accepted at the Rockport Chamber of Commerce, 3 Whistlestop Mall, or may be sent to the chamber at P.O. Box 67. Donations also are being received at Sycamore Hollow, Main Street; Granite Savings Bank, 26 Broadway; and at Rockport National Bank's locations at 16 Main St. and 37 King St. -David Rattigan

ZONING IN - The city will hold a public information meeting on the proposed recodification of Salem's zoning ordinance at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at 120 Washington St. City officials say they have no plans to change the city's zoning. Instead, they want to make the zoning ordinance more user-friendly to allow residents and businesses to better understand it. A proposed draft can be found on www.salem.com.

- Steven Rosenberg

POLLUTION SETTLEMENT RECEIVED - The town was recently awarded $510,049 as its share of a settlement of a multiclass lawsuit brought against oil companies for contaminating local water supplies through their use of a fuel additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether. After deductions for legal and other expenses, Salisbury received a check for $334,100. Selectmen Monday voted to place $100,000 of the money into the general fund. The remaining $234,100 will go into the water enterprise fund, of which $100,000 will go into a reserve account for use in the event of future contamination of the water system. According to Town Manager Neil J. Harrington, none of Salisbury's wells are contaminated with MTBE, which in low amounts can foul the taste of water and at high levels can be carcinogenic. But at the time the lawsuit was filed, the town was able to supply data showing its water supply in the past had contained trace amounts of the additive that were within acceptable levels.

- John Laidler

GOVERNOR TAPS BAKER - Charles Baker of Swampscott, the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, is among 12 members of the bipartisan Governor's Task Force on Public Integrity, which was created recently by Governor Deval Patrick to advise him on ethics and lobbying reform. The task force has been asked to offer recommendations within 60 days. Baker, a former Swampscott selectman, served as both administration and finance secretary and as health and human services secretary during the Weld and Cellucci administrations. - John Laidler

HONORS FOR GORDON PROVOST - The Council of Independent Colleges recently awarded Gordon College Provost Mark Sargent its top academic award for 2008. Sargent received the Chief Academic Officer Award at a ceremony in Seattle earlier this month for his contributions to colleagues at private colleges and universities throughout the country. He was honored for assisting new deans and provosts, for his research and writing, and for his work developing national programs. He recently served a three-year term on the council's chief academic officers task force, including one year as chairman. -David Rattigan