Georgetown Historic House Tour on Sept. 27th

The Eagle Tribune reported that the Georgetown Historical Society is sponsoring a Historical House Tour on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 10am to 4pm. Tickets will be available mid-August for $20 at Sedler's Antiques, Theo's Restaurant, Meader's General Store all in Georgetown and Kay's Interiors in Groveland. All proceeds will benefit the continuing restoration of the Brocklebank Museum. For further information, call the Brocklebank Museum at 978-352-8526 or e-mail at info@georgetownhistoricalsociety.com or visit their website at www.georgetownhistoricalsociety.com

Read the entire Eagle Tribune article.

Thursday June 26th Georgetown Conservation Committee Meeting

The Georgetown Record reported that the Georgetown Conservation Committee June meeting will be held on Thursday, June 26th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Town Hall, 1 Library St., 3rd-floor meeting room. On the agenda will be the results of the Parker River Clean Water Association’s recent River Restoration Grant from the MA Riverways Program. This study observed the impact of Georgetown’s water supply withdrawals on annual base flows and seasonal flows in the upper Parker River.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article.

PRCWA receives grant to study Georgetown’s well field

According to the Georgetown Record, the Parker River Clean Water Association received a grant through the Department of Fish and Game’s Riverways Program to study Georgetown’s well field.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article.

State Senators Review Ocean Management

According to the Georgetown Record, Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) and Senator Steven Baddour (D-Methuen) have recently released the third installment of a cable information show on the "Ocean Management Act". This show delivers great perspectives on why managing our ocean resources are so important to every citizen of Massachusetts. The show was featured throughout Essex and Middlesex districts during the month of March.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article.

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.

28-mile Bike Trail to Run From Boxford Through Newburyport

According to the Georgetown Record, MassHighway is moving forward on a proposed 28-mile bike trail set to run through Georgetown, agreeing to perform and fund 25% design work on the Border to Boston Trail. The trail will run on top of the historic and abandoned Maine to Boston railway, running from Salisbury to the Danvers/Peabody border. The proposed trail is set to run through Boxford, Danvers, Georgetown, Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury, Topsfield and Wenham.

The trail has been earmarked for $800,000 of federal safety funding to do the design work, secured by U.S. Rep. John Tierney in 2005. The final cost to complete the 25% design work is expended to exceed nearly $1 million, but MassHighway hopes to be able to provide the balance of funds needed for the project. MassHighway has begun the process of hiring a qualified consultant for the design, which is expected to be complete by the summer of 2009.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article.

Water Rate Increases in Georgetown

The Georgetown Record reported the Georgetown Water Department has increased the water bill rate by $15/quarter, or $60/year. The increase will bring in approximately $160,000 in extra revenue for the Water Department (around $420,000 annually) and was deemed necessary to provide the town’s basic needs, including funding capital improvements and meeting rising supply and fuel costs. Additionally, according to Water Superintendent Glenn Smith, the department is still paying for its water treatment plant built in 2000, along with a new water main installed last year.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article

November 9, 2007 Legislative Breakfast

On Friday, November 9th, NSAR sponsored its 4th Legislative Breakfast in 2007, attended by State Senator Steven Baddour (D-1st Essex) and State Representative Harriett Stanley (D-2nd Essex).

The Breakfast was held at ABC Home Inspections, Inc. and ABC Real Estate Training Institute in Haverhill; NSAR would like to thank Affiliate Member Andy Consoli for allowing us to use his conference room and facilities (seen here).

MAR Associate Counsel, Margy Grant, presented the five legislative topics on the agenda and gave the legislators the Realtor® position on each issue. These issues included:

1. Transfer Taxes. Realtors® oppose real estate transfer taxes as bad tax policy for several reasons including: a community wide responsibility should be paid for by the entire community; a transfer tax is inequitable and discriminatory as it singles out a small segment of the population [specifically home buyers & sellers] to pay for a community wide need; a transfer tax is exclusionary because it would increase the cost of home ownership; a transfer tax would be an unstable source of revenue due to the instability of the real estate market; a transfer tax would subvert the Proposition 2 ½ override process; the state legislature has already given cities and towns many equitable tools to create affordable and workforce housing through passage of Community Preservation Act, Chapter 40B, and Chapter 40R and 40S.

2. An Act Protecting Children from Poisoning. Proposed legislation SB. 1230 would (a) require lead inspections on all sales of property, instead of at the buyer’s option; (b) require owners and sellers of property to abate lead in soil and tap water; and (c) require letters of compliance for rental units to be renewed every two years, regardless of whether children reside in the unit, or whenever there is a change in occupancy, if that is earlier.

3. An Act Providing Information to Real Estate Buyers. Proposed legislation H. 323, S. 201 is a little unclear but seems to suggest that a homeowner would be expected to review the databases of nearly a dozen different governmental agencies and then create some type of report or hire and pay someone to do it for them. It is not clear how many millions of dollars this could cost Massachusetts homeowners every year or that buyers and sellers could review this data and provide an accurate assessment of what implications, if any, information on one of these databases would have on a home.

4. An Act Relative to the Disclosure of Wetlands on Property. Proposed legislation H. 767 seeks to require that a real estate broker disclose to prospective buyers that a property to be sold may be in its entirety, or in part a wetland as defined in Chapter 131 of the General Laws of or any other regulation or local by-law of the municipality where the property is located. It is the Realtor® position that however well intentioned this proposal may be, it would create an impossible standard for real estate licensees to meet and generate confusion for consumers.

5. An Act Relative to Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund (S. 132) and An Act Relative to Financing the Smart Growth Housing Trust (H. 160). Realtors® support both these bills, as it would create a steady stream of revenue to support the continued success of 40R Smart Growth districts.

Affordable Housing in North Essex County

According to the Newburyport Daily News, here is breakdown of affordable housing percentages in many of the Northern Essex County communities:

Amesbury 11.1%
Georgetown 13.9%
Groveland 3.5%
Merrimac 6.5%
Newbury 3.6%
Newburyport 8.4%
Rowley 4.4%
Salisbury 8.3%
West Newbury 1.8%

SOURCE: State Department of Housing and Community Development

Next Legislative Breakfast: Friday, November 9, 2007, 8:30am

The next North Shore Association of Realtors® Legislative Breakfast will be held on Friday, November 9, 2007, from 8:30am to 10:00am. All NSAR members who live in Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newburyport, North Andover, and/or West Newbury are encouraged to attend.

Topics will likely include:

1. Transfer Taxes.
2. An Act Protecting Children from Poisoning (SB. 1230)
3. An Act Providing Information to Real Estate Buyers. (H. 323, S. 201)
4. An Act Relative to the Disclosure of Wetlands on Property. (H. 767)
5. An Act Relative to Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund (S. 132) and An Act Relative to Financing the Smart Growth Housing Trust (H. 160).

Sign up today using this form, by calling 978-232-9410, or by emailing Jeff@NorthShoreRealtors.com!

Please note: this Legislative Breakfast will be at ABC Real Estate Training Institute, 21 Wingate Street in Haverhill.

For directions, click here.