According to the Andover Townsman, the Andover Old Town Hall is in need of roof and other repairs and crews have been conducting repairs, taking up parking spaces in the downtown shopping district. The recent repairs come at a time when Andover officials have said they'll consider leasing Old Town Hall to generate new revenue in light of the town's budget problems.
"I don't think we utilize the building well," said Selectman Mary Lyman. "I think we should examine it as an option. We're certainly not using it to full capacity." The proposal to lease Old Town Hall, also known as the Town House, was one of several cost-saving measures included in Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski's Feb. 4 budget presentation to selectmen, school and finance officials.
Read the entire Andover Townsman article.
March 22, 2008
Andover Considers Leasing Town Hall
West Street Junkyard Being Cleaned in Georgetown
The Georgetown Record reported that the Georgetown Conservation Commission has permitted site developer Richard Morello to clean out Tidd’s junkyard on Water Street, deciding that the dioxin levels in the dirt were finally low enough to be acceptable for disposal at in-state landfill sites. Years ago a huge tire fire erupted at Tidd’s junkyard, and contaminants from that fire are still in one of the site’s several hotspots.
Morello is the 3rd developer since the late 1990s to take on the controversial site, which is close to Georgetown’s water supply. He plans to construct 16 condos for active seniors in Zone 2, which includes Georgetown’s wells. Slowly over the years, through contentious hearings, developers have moved closer to something acceptable to abutters and to the town. Currently, the project is still in the complicated cleanup phase. According to Georgetown Conservation Agent Steve Przyjemski, the state Department of Environmental Protection is not going to allow the issuance of an Order of Conditions to the developer until it gets all the samples it is requesting from the site. The DEP is requiring the developer to continue testing dirt in a circle radiating outwards from the original tire fire site until the dirt samples come up clean of contaminants.
Read the entire Georgetown Record article.
March 21, 2008
FHA Increased Loan Limits
In response to mortgage guideline tightening, the federal government officially raised the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) loan limits for 1-4 family homes.
The updated FHA guidelines will increase loan limits in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk County by 125% of the area’s median selling price – from $362,790 to $523,750.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits have also increased. Single-family mortgages priced up to $523,750 will be available at lower interest rates than in the recent past when jumbo loans above $417,000 carried a higher interest rate. Loan limits for 2 and 3 family homes have also been increased in the five county Metro Boston region to $670,500 and $810,450 respectively. The new loan limits apply to FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans.
According to 2007 NAR President Pat V. Combs, these reforms, included in the Economic Stimulus package, “will offer home buyers a safer alternative to riskier mortgage products and will help many homeowners who may be facing foreclosures."
Importantly, the new higher Fannie and Freddie conforming loan limits are temporary and only apply to loans made between July 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. This week, both the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® and National Association of Realtors® put a Call to Action to REALTORS® to contact your local federal legislators to make the increased loan limits permanent.
The NSAR Government Affairs Committee is asking all of its members to please look out for that email and Take Action if you have not done so yet.
March 20, 2008
New Salem Condo Complex Near Completion in The Point
The Salem News reported that construction is being completed on Palmer Cove Condominiums, new, three-story building with 15 condos with prices ranging from $142,500 to $191,000, at the end of Congress Street.
According to the Salem News article, built by Salem Harbor Community Development Corp., a nonprofit agency that manages about 150 apartments, this development is significant because it is the first condominium complex in this neighborhood in decades (or maybe ever). The area, known as The Point, a low-income neighborhood across the South River basin, had so far being bypassed by the condo and restaurant boom that rejuvenated the Salem downtown.
The project tackles head-on one of the neighborhood's biggest issues – lack of homeownership. While Salem is split evenly between renters and home owners, The Point is almost all renters – 82%, according to the 2000 census. This Palmer Cove Condominiums project follows several smaller condo conversions in The Point, officials say, and continues an encouraging trend.
Read the entire Salem News article.
Beverly Mayor Seeks to Scale Back Open Space and Residential Design Ordinance
According to the Beverly Citizen, Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon is seeking to change Beverly’s relatively new Open Space and Residential Design Ordinance (OSRD) in order to control, but not stop, residential development. The latest set of proposed changes would reduce the buffer around each parcel from 100 feet to 25 feet and not require it around rock outcrops and conservation areas on the site but still require it around wetlands and vernal pools.
The changes would also increase the threshold for land required to be developed using the rules in zoning districts where the minimum lot size is one or two acres.
The Beverly Citizen article includes a more detailed bulleted list of the proposed changes.
The March 23, 2008 OSRD ordinance public hearing will continue on April 7, 2008 at 7:15 in City Council chambers.
Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.
March 19, 2008
Crane River Dredging in Danvers
According to the Danvers Herald article, the last time these rivers were dredged was in 1983. Since then, environmental laws have changed significantly. The project stalled until last summer, when the town won permission from the federal Army Corps of Engineers to put the spoils in the state’s ocean disposal site. This brought the price tag down from an anticipated $4 million for trucking the material to a certified land site to $1.6 million for ocean disposal. The state, through the Seaport Bond Council, is paying about half the cost.
Newburyport Custom House to be Renovated
The Newburyport Current reported that volunteers at the Maritime Society in Newburyport will be completing renovations to the historic Custom House. Most of the repairs are for masonry work and the building’s windows.
The Maritime Society received a grant through the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and private donations, along with insurance money, to fund the project. The cost is expected to run close to $80,000. The Custom House was built on Newburyport’s waterfront in 1835 to facilitate the growing overseas trade and tax collection of imported goods. The building was designed by Robert Mills, renowned architect of the Washington Monument and the U.S. Treasury Building.
Read the entire Newburyport Current article.
Haverhill Downtown Garage to Begin Construction this Summer
The Eagle Tribune reported that the long-awaiting, long-debated Haverhill municipal parking garage will begin construction this summer. The parking garage, being built by the Merrimack Valley Regional Planning Authority, will be at Railroad Square off Moulton Way, adjacent to the Haverhill MBTA station.
Work will begin with the necessary environmental cleanup and will start to actually begin being constructed in spring/summer 2009. It could be open before Christmas 2010, which would be a big boost for the city’s ongoing downtown renaissance.
Read the entire Eagle Tribune article.
First Residential Subdivision Application Under Beverly’s Open Space and Residential Design ordinance
The Beverly Citizen reported that the first residential subdivion application has been filed under Beverly’s new Open Space and Residential Design (OSRD) ordinance. The application proposes 4 new building lots off Beaver Pond, a private road that runs along the edge of Beaver Pond and connects Dodge Street in North Beverly and Old Essex Road in Centerville, behind Harry Ball Field.
Read the entire Beverly Citizen article.