Beverly Meeting Digest

Dates to calendar

From posted agendas and meeting notices.

• MonSep 146:00pm

  Deficit Reduction Committee

  City Council Chambers, 191 Cabot St

  Q and A with the City Finance Director, and a state funding update from Rep. Bowen.

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• MonSep 217:00pm

  City Council

  City Council Chambers, 191 Cabot St

  Six public hearings between 7:45 and 8:45, and the final passage vote on the crypto kiosk ordinance.

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• WedSep 236:00 & 7:15pm

  School Committee

  Beverly Middle School Library, 502 Cabot St

  Subcommittees at 6:00, full committee at 7:15. Spring sports recognition, the student representative report, and a backlog of meeting minutes were all moved to this date.

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• TueSep 296:00pm

  State Aid Community Conversation

  Beverly Public Library, Farms branch

  Hosted by Rep. Bowen.

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• MonOct 196:00pm

  Flock cameras: joint committee meeting

  Venue may change because of the City Hall renovation

  Legal Affairs and Public Services meeting jointly, before the regular Council meeting.

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• TueOct 20time TBC

  Deficit Reduction Committee: first public presentation

  Location not yet set

  The committee presents the research it has been doing since July.

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• MonOct 26deadline

  FY2028 budget recommendations due

  Deficit Reduction Committee

  Per the committee's own published timeline.

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Times are as posted and can change. Venues for October and later may shift because of the City Hall renovation, so check the posted agenda before you go.

Dollar store site proposals rejected, going back to market

From the recording of the Mayor's quarterly update to Council, September 8.

Mayor Cahill reported that the city has rejected the proposals it receivedthrough its request for proposals on the former dollar store site, describing a two-part proposal from a single respondent and saying neither part met the community's needs.

He said the city had expected stronger interest, and had anticipated responses covering a boutique-style hotel and several affordable housing options.

The city has since met with the state's economic development office, which brought in MassDevelopment and the state housing office. A site visit by those agencies is being scheduled. The goal is to get the property back on the market quickly, working with the state on how to structure a second RFP.

On timeline, he noted that across two administrations it took three rounds of RFPs to develop the waterfront restaurant and public spaces, and about three rounds to sell the McKay School. He said he hoped this site would be resolved in two rounds rather than three.

The city's Economic and Community Development Council, a volunteer body advising the Mayor and Council, worked on the first RFP and will be involved in the next one.

Crypto kiosk ban passes first reading

From the ordinance text filed in the September 8 Council agenda packet. Figures are as written in the ordinance.

Order #187 would add a new section to Chapter 215 of the city ordinances, prohibiting any store, business or property owner in Beverly from installing, operating or allowing a cryptocurrency kiosk. The change requires two readings. This was the first, and it passed unanimously. Final passage is scheduled for September 21.

The findings written into the ordinance state:

• Approximately 13 active kiosks operate in Beverly, plus two locations offering crypto purchase at the register.
• The Police Department reports at least $195,029 in local fraud losses involving these machines since 2024.
• Department data indicates the majority of local victims are 67 or older.
• The FBI recorded $388,981,267 in kiosk scam losses nationally in 2025, including $6,834,561 in Massachusetts.

The ordinance notes that funds deposited into these machines are converted and transmitted to a third-party wallet almost immediately, which is why they are generally unrecoverable. Enforcement would fall to the Police Department. Proposed penalty is $300 per day per device, with a 30-day removal window.

City Hall relocating in October

From the recording of the Mayor's quarterly update to Council, September 8.

City staff will move from 191 Cabot Street to the TD Bank building across Thorndike Street during the first week of October, timed so departments are settled before early voting opens for the general election.

City Council meetings are expected to move to Beverly Middle School while City Hall is renovated. The School Committee already meets there and BevCam is installed in that space. Mayor Cahill described the arrangements as still being finalized.

On the renovation itself, abatement costs for demolishing the former police station annex came in more than $2 million above the carried estimate. Rather than draw on project contingency, the design was reduced by about 3,050 square feet of new construction, removing the planned Inspectional Services and Health Department suites from the new section. Both are to be accommodated in the renovated portion instead. Exterior brick on the new rear elevation was also dropped, at a reported saving of about $250,000.

Late buses in the first week of school

From the recording of the School Committee meeting, September 9.

Committee members reported hearing from families whose children arrived at school up to an hour late during the opening days. Superintendent Cushing reported three bus breakdowns: an air brake pressure issue, a coolant leak, and one bus that failed mid route while the transportation director was driving it.

He noted pointedly that all three were diesel buses, not the electric fleet, and said the district currently has enough drivers. He cited citywide traffic and construction as contributing factors while stating this was not offered as an excuse.

The district's electric buses were delayed by a federal grant freeze in January 2025. Mayor Cahill said it took roughly two months to reach a federal contact and additional months to confirm the district's EPA grants would not be withdrawn. Charging infrastructure was finalized with National Grid in June 2026. Eight buses were purchased using EPA and state grant funds, which he estimated saved the city about $1 million against diesel replacements.

Measures discussed: re-examining the school start times changed two years ago, which members noted may involve collective bargaining; a bus tracking application, which the Superintendent has reservations about on child safety grounds; and route change notifications through the district's mass communication system, expected within about a week. Crossing guard positions remain open.

Two positions and a state-mandated policy, approved unanimously

From the recording of the School Committee's remote-only meeting, September 2. Every vote that night was a roll call.

The Committee met on Zoom on September 2 and, because the meeting was remote, took every vote by roll call. Three things passed, all without dissent.

Two new positions, approved as a single package: a one-to-one paraprofessional supporting a student at the high school, and a special services teacher covering a maternity leave into January before transferring to the middle school mid-year. Both are funded from revolving accounts.

A DESE-mandated policyunder the PROTECT Act, governing how district staff interact with law enforcement engaged in civil enforcement. The state required it in place before school started, so the Committee voted to waive its own two-reading procedure and adopt it in one sitting. The version adopted follows the state template with the district name inserted and “executive director” changed to “superintendent”.

The Committee also adopted its new meeting schedule, which is why subcommittees now meet at 6:00 and the full committee at 7:15 on the fourth Wednesday.

From brainstorming into research

From the committee's posted minutes and agendas, July 20 to September 14.

The committee was formed this summer at the request of two city councillors. It includes those two councillors, two School Committee members and four residents, and met four times between July 20 and August 31.

On terminology, Mayor Cahill offered a clarification at the August 26 School Committee meeting. The city balances its budget every year, as it is required to do, and is not in deficit within a fiscal year. The committee's subject is the forward-looking gap in financial forecasting, where projected expenses grow faster than projected revenue.

The committee's own timeline, attached to its August 18 minutes: research and presentations complete by September 30, FY2028 budget recommendations by October 26, stakeholder presentations and public outreach through December, ward-by-ward community meetings and surveys in January 2027, and long-term recommendations in April 2027.

Areas under research include employee health insurance, regionalizing 911 dispatch, payments in lieu of taxes, parking and beach fees, recreation and camp fees, enterprise funds covering the harbor, airport and golf course, a hard-to-recycle materials facility, and municipal power.

Working papers containing preliminary cost modeling by individual members are attached to the minutes. These are research documents, not committee findings, and no savings figure has been proposed, adopted or endorsed by the committee or the city. Anyone citing a number should read it in the context of the document it appears in, which is why the minutes are linked below rather than summarized here.

One figure that is a city budget number rather than a projection: the FY2027 line for Public Safety Dispatch is $1,292,017, up from $1,079,750 in FY2026.

Why PILOT payments keep coming up

From the Deficit Reduction Committee's posted minutes of August 18, with two figures from meeting recordings.

The subject surfaced at all three bodies during these two weeks, which is less of a coincidence than it looks. PILOTs are one of roughly nine research areas assigned to the Deficit Reduction Committee, and the two members leading that research also sit on the School Committee.

A short definition, since the term gets used at meetings without one. Colleges, hospitals, housing authorities and similar nonprofits pay no property tax. A payment in lieu of taxes is a voluntary, negotiated contribution some make instead. It is not required, and the amount is not set by any formula unless state law provides one.

The committee's August 18 minutes record roughly 81 tax-exempt properties in Beverly, with a small number making payments:

• Endicott College, $167,000 a year, recorded in the minutes as a donation
• Montserrat College of Art, $15,000 a year
• Beverly Housing Authority, $60,000 to $80,000 a year, set by state formula

At the committee's August 31 meeting a member cited research putting Lahey's annual payment to the Town of Burlington at approximately $500,000, and noted that is more than double what Beverly currently receives from all of its payers combined.

Two councillors have indicated they intend to ask the Council to establish a standing PILOT committee, which would give the city an annual process rather than case-by-case conversations. Beverly last had one in 2008.

Two items pending before the Council

From the posted Council agenda of September 8.

Order #213, Human Rights Committee funding. Councilor Houseman has filed a formal request that the Mayor raise and appropriate $20,000for the Beverly Human Rights Committee. The city's DEIB Director position was not funded in the FY27 budget. The order is being held in the Finance and Property committee at the sponsor's request while discussions with the Mayor continue.

Flock cameras. The Legal Affairs and Public Services committees have scheduled a joint meeting for October 19, 6:00 to 6:55pm, immediately before the regular Council meeting. The scheduling followed a request made during public comment for a format allowing questions and discussion.

Redistricting and e-bikes at the schools

From the recording of the School Committee meeting, September 9.

School district lines. Committee President Visnick noted that the city charter provides for reviewing the districting plan every ten years, and said the Committee expects to discuss enrollment data and move-in patterns this year. She also noted two potential housing developments on the near horizon, which bear on any redraw. No redistricting process has been started.

E-bikes and e-scooters.Superintendent Cushing said he is seriously considering a district ban through grade eight, citing injury reports and state legislation awaiting the Governor's signature that would sort these vehicles into four classes and require registration and licensing. A member asked what mechanism would be used, noting that either a handbook change or a policy change would require Committee action. Nothing has been filed.