Mayor to direct federal funds to sidewalk, street repairs
Jun. 12—HAVERHILL — Mayor James Fiorentini plans to provide the Highway and Parks Department with $500,000 in American Rescue Plan money to immediately begin repairing streets and sidewalks, and to pay for a twice yearly cleaning of the downtown, in addition to whatever work is already taking place.
The mayor said the $500,000 will supplement $1.5 million the city expects to receive in Chapter 90 money from the state for street repairs this year.
"We have $200,000 in our pothole and sidewalk budget now and this will add to it," the mayor said.
He also plans to purchase a sidewalk sweeping machine, the price of which is still being negotiated.
Two years ago, the city matched the state road paving amount and was able to pave more roads than in any previous year, the mayor said. He had planned to make a similar local match last year, but could not because of revenue losses and budget constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the budget concentrated on preserving jobs and vital services.
Fiorentini said new federal money allows the city to replenish lost revenue and revive funding for items that had to be cut last year.
The city uses an outside company to inspect, analyze and grade every public road and generate a prioritized list of recommended projects, the mayor said.
The review considers age, condition, how heavily used a given street is and other factors. Input from residents is also considered and the public is encouraged to call the mayor's 311 constituent services phone line with requests.
At a budget hearing June 7, City Councilor Colin LePage suggested hiring a second full-time employee, who would be dedicated to cleaning the downtown.
Councilor Tim Jordan said volunteers such as Jeff Grassie and Lisa Marzilli have been doing work downtown, but keeping it clean continues to be a challenge.
"The reality is, it's not very clean down there and we're relying on volunteers to do the work city employees should be doing," Jordan said.
Fiorentini disagreed, saying the downtown "looks fantastic," to which Jordan responded by inviting him to participate in a cleanup with Grassie and Marzilli.
Council President Melinda Barrett said you only need to step out of your car at a curb and you'll encounter sand, even outside of City Hall.
In a letter to the council following Monday's budget session, Fiorentini said parking meter revenue is already used to pay for a full-time Highway Department worker assigned exclusively to work downtown, and hopes that a sidewalk sweeper machine and thorough, twice-a-year cleaning will help.
He said there is no additional parking revenue for an additional worker.
"I suggest we give the items I mentioned above a try first," he said.
Fiorentini also told the council that he would like to add more money to the DPW Highway budget, but he is concerned about using one-time revenue (American Rescue Plan money) to fund permanent jobs.
Instead, the mayor said he'd like to hire seasonal and summer workers and has asked Human Services Director Vincent Ouellette and DPW Director Mike Stankovich to meet with ValleyWorks to put together a summer youth jobs program.
"If we are able to do this, it will allow us to put kids downtown one or two days a week to keep it cleaner," he said.
