Looking for a Fight in 2024?

REGIONAL – 2024 will be dominated by national politics with the race for President and Congress in full swing, plus continued congressional turmoil and attempts to impeach the current President and, of course, the civil and criminal trials against the former President.
Here on the North Shore there won’t be significant election contests – U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton do not yet have any significant opposition — but there are several fierce local battles.
On January 23, the voters will be asked to decide if the 11 cities and towns on the North Shore will agree to fund construction of a new Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School in Haverhill.
The vote will be a district-wide election with communities from Amesbury, Salisbury and Haverhill to Ipswich and Georgetown being asked to fund about $280 million over 34 years of bond payments, plus interest. The total cost of the proposed building is $444.6 million, but the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which is funded by 1 cent of the sales tax, is offering to pay $159 million of the total cost.
Whittier Supt. Maureen Lynch said taxpayers would see an average increase in their property taxes of about $239 a year for the next 30 years, if the building is approved.
The district has 120 days to approve the building or risk losing the MSBA money.
Lynch has made the rounds of the towns and cities, promoting the need to replace the 50-year-old building at 115 Amesbury Line Rd in Haverhill.
“We have to do something,” Lynch told town leaders at a recent meeting.
But she appears to be getting tired of answering questions from officials who strongly object to the cost of the building. Expect to hear a lot more about the need for a new Whittier building as the Yes for Whittier campaign hits high gear in the next three weeks.
Triton and Ipswich schools are hoping MSBA will have money left in its coffers to invite the two districts to apply to build several new school buildings – the Triton middle and high school buildings and the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School and Winthrop Elementary School in Ipswich.
Another fight is over the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s plans to demolish the beloved Pink House on Plum Island Turnpike.
The F&WS announced on Nov. 1 that it plans to demolish the Pink House, probably the most photographed and painted icon on the North Shore. The government agency’s plan, whose primary mission is to preserve marshes and wildlife, not a vacant 100-year-old house, is to build a platform on the site for visitors to observe the salt marsh and its wildlife.
Outraged supporters have about a month to identify land that could be exchanged for the land the Pink House sits on. The non-profit Support the Pink House organization has partnered with the F&WS for years trying to preserve the house.
But the task has proved daunting because the F&WS will accept in trade only land that is of equal value – about $425,000 – as the Pink House and is either marsh or dry land close to an existing federal wildlife reserve.
On Salisbury beach, the battle of the Big Block continues. The town’s Conservation Commission approved the mixed-use building on the beachfront after the owners made significant changes to the original proposal, which was initially turned down by the ConCom.
But in the closing days of 2023, abutters filed an appeal with the Department of Environmental Protection about the proposed $190 million building at Broadway and Oceanfront South. The five-story building will house 235 residential units and 7,500 square feet of retail space included.
The appeal, filed by the residents of the adjacent Ocean Echo Condominiums and the nearby Song of the Seas Condominiums, cited potential damage to the sand dunes.
In one of the region’s longest fights, the state Land Court will weigh in on G. Mello Trash Disposal Corp.’s appeal of the conditions the Georgetown Planning Board levied on the proposed 500-ton transfer station.
The issues range from rodent management to noise caused by the station, but the rebuilding of narrow Carleton Drive and the traffic issues on Main Street seem to be the most pressing.
Mello objects to rebuilding the roadway, which engineers hired by the firm proposed, and instead wants to resurface it with three inches of asphalt.
Ending a major fight in Ipswich, Ora, an ophthalmic product development company, has been approved to begin converting the Waldingfield estate into a corporate retreat.
On 40 acres, Ora this year will renovate and rebuild the gatehouse, update and possibly expand the Italianate mansion and possibly build a wellness center for its employees while maintaining the barns, horses and fields.
Buckle up, and have a great 2024 from The Town Common.