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Issue No. 5 · Week of October 12
Beverly Meeting Digest
Covering October 5 to 11, 2026 · Independent, not a City of Beverly publication
A quieter week, with no Council meeting until October 19. Lynch Park won a state grant for most of the cost of its seawall permits, and two state laws Beverly asked for were signed. The data center pause has a hearing date, and here is how it fits with the governor's new order and Salem's new ban. National Grid plans its Cabot Street electric work for after New Year's. And before the deficit committee presents on October 20, a short guide to who controls the city budget.
Holiday week. Monday is a holiday, so trash and recycling run a day late all week, through Saturday. There is no leaf pickup this week; the next leaf week is October 19 to 23. Collection calendar
What happened October 5 to 11
Lynch Park gets a state grant for most of its seawall permits
City Council · Monday, October 5 · Order #252, submitted by the Mayor
The Mayor on how the grant came throughCity Council, Oct 5 · from 59:32The Council accepted a $430,456 grant from the state's Seaport Economic Council toward the design and permits for repairing Lynch Park's seawalls, the last steps before construction can be put out to bid. 1:11:07
What it pays for. The project still needs permits from the city's Conservation Commission, from the state (a waterfront license and a water quality certification) and from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and plans detailed enough to build from. 58:12 The grant covers 80% of that work. The city plans to ask the Community Preservation Committee for the other 20%, and the committee has Lynch Park on its agenda October 15. 58:53
Why the seawalls. The project, the Lynch Park Resilient Seawall Restoration, has been in state environmental review since May. The December 2022 nor'easter flooded the park, and the city says a January 2024 storm damaged park infrastructure. The Carriage House basement floods in heavy rain, and its foundation is part of the seawall. No construction cost has been published.
Why it took this long. City records show a 2024 state coastal grant application was not funded, and that a state seawall repair program was not a fit because it ranks projects by risk to people. On October 5 the Mayor said the city had applied two years in a row to the state's main grant program and was turned down for two reasons: no homes flood when Lynch Park floods, unlike projects elsewhere, and the state weighs how much a community has to work with. 1:00:36 He said he then called Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, a former Salem mayor, and the money came through the Seaport Economic Council instead. 1:01:18
The money so far. A $325,375 state coastal grant in 2023 for the flood study and early designs; $179,385 in Community Preservation funds in 2024 for design and permits; a request in June for $45,000 of the city's free cash, its surplus from past years, to keep the permitting going over the summer; and now this grant. After the permits, the plans go to the Conservation Commission for review.
Data centers: Beverly's pause, the state's new rule and Salem's ban
City Council · Monday, October 5 · Order #250
The pause would stop the city from accepting or approving an application for any data center, of any size, until the Council writes zoning rules for them or through November 30, 2027. Issue 4 has the full story.
Two hearings, then a vote. Because the pause is a change to zoning, state law requires two public hearings, and at each, interested residents must be given a chance to be heard. The Planning Board holds one and then sends the Council its recommendation. The Council holds the other, set for its November 9 meeting at 7:30pm. 1:08:09 The Planning Board picked its hearing date on October 6, but the date has not been posted yet; we will list it when it is. After both hearings, adopting the pause takes a two-thirds vote of the Council, six of nine.
What the governor's order does. A large data center needs state permits, such as environmental review. On September 8, Governor Healey signed Executive Order 658, which holds those permits until two things happen: the developer signs a community benefits agreement, which the governor's office describes as an agreement with the host city or town, and shows it will meet the state's expectations on energy. A state office checks the agreement. The order covers only the biggest projects, those drawing more than 25 megawatts of power at peak, and it does not change local zoning. Cities and towns still decide what is allowed where.
What Beverly and Salem are doing. Both are using zoning, which reaches projects of any size. Beverly's proposal is a pause: no data center applications while the city writes rules, at most until November 30, 2027. Salem went straight to a permanent ban in every part of the city, and its City Council gave it final approval on October 8. Beverly's pause is meant to give the city time to decide what its rules should be.
Salem has had an actual proposal. A developer planned a 6-megawatt facility at the Shetland complex that the city treated as a data center; the city revoked its permit, and its Zoning Board upheld that in September, finding the project was not the office use the permit allowed. The developer calls it a “low-latency inference point,” servers placed close to customers to cut delays, and says it is not a data center. Salem's special counsel said the governor's order “doesn't have any impact” on the ban, because the order is aimed at much larger facilities. Beverly's proposal does not mention any pending project.
Elsewhere, Lowell and Westfield adopted one-year pauses this year, and Peabody is discussing rules; its community development director said no projects are proposed there.
Go deeperBeverly's proposal (p. 37)Planning Board agenda, Oct 6Executive Order 658Governor's announcementSalem hearing minutes, Sep 9Salem Council agenda, Oct 8Patch on Salem's final vote
Read moreGBH on the Salem projectBoston.com on the zoning rulingSalem News on PeabodyBisnow on LowellWAMC on WestfieldState zoning law, c. 40A §5
Cabot Street electric work, planned for after New Year's
City Council public hearing · Monday, October 5 · Order #219, a National Grid petition
The Mayor describes the planCity Council, Oct 5 · from 34:12National Grid wants to lay new underground electric lines along Cabot, Bow, Abbott and Wallis Streets, which its representative said is to improve reliability and reduce outages. 30:54 The Mayor said downtown has had a number of outages in recent years, and that the city met with the company about timing. 34:50
What to expect, as described at the hearing
- When. After New Year's, weather permitting. The city asked for January and February because the businesses on that stretch have been through a lot, with new sidewalks and new utilities. 34:12
- How long. Up to three months. 35:26
- Crossing Cabot. Four trenches will cross the street. Three will be dug at the same time by separate crews, with detours; the fourth, near Ellis Square, will be done separately, with detours from as far as Dane Street. 36:04
- Depth. Up to 12 feet in places. Crews may hit old trolley rails and cobblestones. 36:46 37:53
- Nights. The goal is no night work; there are apartments above some of the buildings. 40:01
- Sidewalks. Blocked while conduit goes in, then covered with steel plates or patched so people can walk over them at the end of each day. 32:02
- School bus stops. Two stops, at Cabot and Abbott and at Cabot and Bow, will have to move while the crossings are dug. The Mayor said the city will set a plan with the schools' transportation department before work starts. 39:00
No one from the public spoke at the hearing. The petition goes back to the Council's Public Services committee, then to a Council vote. 41:04
Also decided: shrubs and trees, a quorum fix, and grants
City Council · Monday, October 5
- Overgrown trees and shrubs. The ordinance passed its final vote. Owners whose trees or shrubs block a street or sidewalk can be warned, fined, and billed if the city trims them, with a lien if the bill goes unpaid for 60 days. Asked how it will be enforced, the city solicitor said mostly on complaints, with the building inspector or tree warden sometimes going street by street. 42:55 43:42 Issue 4 has the full story.
- Human Rights Committee quorum. Also passed: the committee can now count its quorum from the members it has rather than its eleven seats, so open seats no longer count against it. 44:22 Councilor Houseman's request for $20,000 for the committee stayed in the Finance and Property committee. 47:14
- Grants. The Council accepted $2,143,333 in federal money for Massachusetts Task Force 1, the urban search and rescue team based in Beverly, about $600,000 more than last year, the city's grants director said. 51:17 Also: exhaust systems for all three fire stations, new motors for the fire department's rescue and dive boat, the police department's yearly traffic safety grant, and $25,300 for Beverly's local cultural council, which passes it on as small arts grants. 1:10:01
- Where the Council meets now. With City Hall closed for its renovation, and no room for Council meetings in the temporary City Hall next door, the Council meets in the Beverly Middle School library, 502 Cabot St, until further notice. 1:15:19
Go deeperCouncil agenda (p. 1)Full recording
Also met, no video posted yet: the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission on Tuesday; and on Thursday the Deficit Reduction Committee, preparing its October 20 presentation, the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Design Review Board and the Human Rights Committee. For those, the record is the posted agenda now and the minutes once they are approved. Agendas
Two Beverly laws signed
Massachusetts Legislature · home rule petitions, filed with the approval of the Mayor and City Council
Some changes the city wants need a state law. Beverly asks for one with a home rule petition, approved by the Mayor and Council and filed by its legislators. Governor Healey signed two in the past three weeks.
- Fire alarm operators' retirement (Chapter 233, signed October 5). Fire alarm operators hired by the city on or before January 26, 2006, including those who later moved to joint civilian dispatcher, are now classified in Group 2 for retirement. For employees hired before 2012, Group 2 reaches the maximum pension rate at age 60 rather than 65. Filed by Senator Joan Lovely.
- The police chief (Chapter 218, signed September 22). Police Chief John LeLacheur may serve past 65, the usual mandatory retirement age, until he turns 70, unless he retires or the Mayor relieves him first. Filed by Representative Hannah Bowen and Senator Lovely. The digest missed this one when it was signed; it now checks the Legislature each week.
Who controls the city budget
The Deficit Reduction Committee presents its first ideas on October 20. The committee advises; any idea that changes spending reaches the budget through the Mayor and the Council. Here is how the city charter and state law split that work, simplified.
- The School Committee goes first. It holds a public hearing, votes its budget request and sends it to the Mayor at least 21 days before the city budget is due. How school money is spent is the School Committee's decision; the Council votes only the total.
- The Mayor writes the budget. The Mayor submits the whole operating budget to the Council, with a budget message, and publishes a summary.
- The Council can cut, not add. After its own public hearing, the Council can approve, reduce or reject any amount. It cannot raise an amount or add a new item unless the Mayor recommends it, and it cannot cut debt service or spending the law requires, including the state's minimum for schools.
- The clock. Any amount the Council has not acted on within 45 days takes effect as the Mayor proposed it.
- During the year. Moving money from one department to another takes a written request from the Mayor and a Council vote, after two readings and a public hearing. Moving money between lines inside one department needs only the Mayor's approval.
In short, the Mayor's budget is the ceiling. The Council can approve it or go lower, line by line, but it cannot go higher or move money between departments on its own. Taxes and borrowing work differently: each year the Council, with the Mayor's approval, decides how the tax is split between homes and businesses, and borrowing takes a two-thirds Council vote.
The calendar, using this year's budget as the guide
- Fall
- Ideas and forecasts: the deficit committee on October 20, and the city's financial forecast, expected in November.
- Spring
- The School Committee holds its hearing and votes its request.
- June
- The Mayor submits the budget (June 1 this year), and the Council holds its hearing and votes (June 23 this year).
- July 1
- The fiscal year begins.
City charter, Article 6State law, c. 44 §32School budgets, c. 71 §34School minimum, c. 70 §6Tax split, c. 40 §56Borrowing, c. 44 §7
Coming up through November 9
- Oct 13Parking and Traffic Commission8:30am at the temporary City Hall, 195 Cabot St, and online. A proposal to make Chase Street one-way, safety reviews near Pickett Street and Baker Avenue and around Peabody, Larcom and Sargent Avenues, and a recommendation to the Planning Board on the Stop & Shop site.
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- Oct 14Council budget analyst screening committee2:30pm in the Fogg Room at the library, 32 Essex St. Interviews in closed session, then announces its finalist and the dates for finalist interviews with the full Council.
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- Oct 15Deficit Reduction Committee6:00pm. Reviews its presentation for October 20. The agenda does not list a location.
- Oct 15Community Preservation Committee7:00pm at the Police Department community room, 175 Elliott St. The Lynch Park match, the seven pre-applications for this year's grants, and 15 minutes for public questions.
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- Oct 19Flock cameras: joint committee meeting6:00pm at the Middle School library. Two Council committees review the city's license plate reader cameras and contracts, the second meeting on it since April.
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- Oct 19City Council7:00pm, after the Flock meeting. The agenda is not posted yet.
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- Oct 20Deficit Reduction Committee: first public presentationPlanned for the evening; the committee called it a community meeting on its October 15 agenda. The time and place have not been posted yet.
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- Oct 26Camp Paradise public meeting6:00pm in the Barnet Gallery at the library, 32 Essex St. A Council committee meeting on the city's use of and plans for Camp Paradise, 44 Cole St, requested by Councilors Mullady and St. Hilaire in February.
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- Oct 27Planning Board7:00pm at the Police Department. The agenda is not posted yet.
- Oct 28Zoning Board of Appeals7:00pm at the Police Department community room. Includes a change to the design of the City Hall addition, and the continued hearing on a 124-foot Verizon cell tower at 12 Tozer Road.
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- Oct 29Retirement BoardTentative, 6:00pm. The board that sets the city's pension funding schedule.
- Nov 3State electionThe city clerk sets the early voting dates and locations.
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- Nov 9City Council: data center hearingThe public hearing on the proposed data center pause is set for 7:30pm.
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