January 2024
Town Administrator’s Corner
Message from the Town Administrator
Annual Town Meeting is swiftly approaching!
Groveland has an Open Town Meeting form of government, meaning that any registered voter may attend and vote at Town Meeting. Town Meeting is the legislative body of the Town. It convenes at least once annually at the time and place designated by the Selectmen. The Groveland General Bylaw dictates the last Monday of April at the Bagnall Elementary School. Town Meeting considers and adopts the annual operating budget for the Town, including the school budget. It also considers and acts upon other matters which require Town Meeting action such as zoning changes, street acceptances, bylaw additions and amendments. The business of each Town Meeting is contained in a document known as “the Warrant” which includes all matters on which the Town will act upon at the meeting. Articles are inserted in the Warrant by the Select Board and by Citizen Petition.
Who’s Who at Town Meeting
Town Meeting Members – All registered voters may participate in Groveland’s Open Town Meeting.
The Moderator – Presides over and conducts the meeting. They are an elected official.
Town Clerk – Is the chief election official, custodian of the Town’s records, and recording secretary of the meeting.
Select Board – (5) Elected policy making body, appoints Town Administrator and compiles the Warrant.
Town Administrator – Appointed by the Select Board, the Administrator helps prepare the budget and submits it to the Selectmen and the Finance Committee.
Finance Committee – (9) Appointed by the Select Board, it reviews the budget, makes recommendations on all financial matters, prepares and distributes a printed report of its recommendations and other relevant information, to assist Town Meeting in making final decisions.
Town Meeting is an important democratic tradition and is open to all Groveland registered voters and is Groveland’s legislative body. The procedures are simple, and all have a right to attend and be heard. You may speak on the issues if you wish and then cast your vote. By this process, the decisions made are based on the collective will of the Meeting. We encourage your active participation, particularly for those Articles that are of greatest importance to you.
Groveland’s Annual Town Meeting this year will be held on April 29, 2024. Information pertaining to the 2024 Annual Town Meeting and Warrant can be found here.
Upcoming Events
Haverhill-Methuen – Bridge Replacements Project. On February 1, 2024, at 6:00pm MassDOT will hold a virtual design public hearing to present the design for the proposed bridge replacement project on I-495 (NB & SB) over the Merrimack River and over Route 110 and over Industrial Ave. For more information see here.
Community Chair Series. 4-week series, every Saturday in February at 9:30AM, combines gentle movements and breath work to enhance flexibility and relaxation. Chairs provide support, making it accessible for everyone. Immerse yourself in a holistic yoga experience to promote physical well-being and inner calm. See here for more information.
Groveland Baseball League. Registration is LIVE for the 2024 Spring Baseball season! Please visit the new website here.
Town Projects
Skatepark at the Pines. We held our public meeting on Thursday, January 19th and reviewed the final design assembled by the consultant Spohn Ranch. We are now moving forward with construction documents and a final construction estimate to evaluate if any items need to be removed from the approved design concept.
Veasey Memorial Park Feasibility Study. The Town voted to approve Community Preservation Act funds for a Visioning and Feasibility Plan for Veasey Memorial Park. Visioning is a participatory tool that brings citizens and stakeholders together and is used to assist the group in developing a shared vision of the future. By asking the group where they are now and where they can realistically expect to be in the future. Visioning processes benefit from the use of scenario planning, which helps generate and evaluate alternative future options. With the information on hand, the community can more easily identify and explore varying opportunities that have been vetted through a public process.
This process will consider these questions:
- What can Veasey Memorial Park provide that is not offered at the Town’s other recreational facilities?
- What is the current management structure of the site and is the Town the best manager for the park given its resources?
- If the Town is not the best manager, what other organizational structures are used for such properties?
The Town has retained the consulting services of Innes Associates Ltd. Stay tuned for more updates that will be made available on the website here.
Johnsons Creek Dam/Salem Street Dam. The Town of Groveland was awarded a grant to improve resiliency in the Johnson Creek Watershed by designing a new culvert at Lower Center Street and designing and constructing a bioretention area to capture runoff from a Town-owned parking lot. The following project activities occurred in January: 1) began drafting design plans for the proposed bioretention area at Groveland Park 2) finalized geotechnical and hydraulic/hydrologic analysis of the Lower Center Street culvert, and (3) progressed with structure selection alternatives analysis. For more information on the grant, see the project announcement here.
Update from the Cable Department. The Cable Department has been hard at work revolutionizing our workflow by incorporating hybrid IP Video over the cable system and test driving our remote meeting recording capability. If you didn’t know, you can fully participate or just watch many town boards and committees via Zoom. This adds a participatory factor that hasn’t existed in the past and augments what was previously limited to livestream or cable broadcast only.
We are also working on expanding hybrid recording capabilities beyond our main meeting room at Town Hall. As we near completion on the planning phase of our upcoming control room relocation, we have greatly expanded our meeting coverage this past year. We are looking forward to a great 2024!
–Chris Liquori, Cable Manager
Volunteer/Employee Spotlight:
Meet Doug Soper
Nominated and written by Mike Dempsey.
I want to introduce you to another fantastic employee and volunteer in our town. He is loyal, full of good ideas, hard-working, and spirited. And also, may I mention that he is 81 years young and still going strong! He grew up in Hamilton, MA and moved to Groveland on August 10, 1968, with his young wife, Gerry and he has been here since then. Doug worked for several car dealerships before retiring. He and Gerry raised two children here in town and he now has two grandchildren who he is extremely proud of. Gerry passed away a few years ago and he misses her, but he keeps busy volunteering and working for Groveland.
Doug loves going to restaurants with family and friends. One of his favorite breakfast places is the Poet’s Inn at Whittier Tech Vocational School where he brings many friends, co-workers, and other town volunteers to treat them for a meal. He can recite reviews on many eating establishments within the Merrimack Valley. Regardless, he is still fit and trim and in great shape for his age. Another one of his favorite activities is cruising, which he does with his family almost every year. Since his wife Gerry passed away, he has become a great cook and baker, well known for his famous peanut butter balls.
So, what does he do in our town? His town job includes Veasey Park caretaker, building and grounds Manager for 9 years. At Veasey Park he takes care of every repair to the buildings, its furniture, and its grounds. He oversees the many volunteers. Twice every year we have a group of volunteers come from the Essex County Pre-release and Re-entry Center (ECPRC), a community service program to do projects and clean up the grounds. Doug makes sure they do projects that he normally cannot get to alone like painting the building, replacing windows, fixing gutters, and performing Spring cleanups. The Program staff and the volunteers love to come because Doug is so organized and helps them feel welcome and needed. When we need an estimate, a vendor visit, or an inspection at the Park Doug is always there to help.
Doug respects the efforts of all our town services and departments. He thinks they do a great job and is willing to help where and when needed. The Groveland Police, Groveland Fire, Groveland Water and Sewer, Groveland Light, Town Hall all know and respect Doug. He shows his appreciation by dropping off homemade brownies, cookies, and other baked goods whenever he can.
Doug doesn’t just work at Veasey Park. He also volunteers at Town Hall and is involved in the tax work-off program. You might see him at Town Hall helping the Council on Aging or the Highway Department. He has assisted the Conservation Commission with trail and signage work. Basically, if the Town needs a job done, Doug is willing to do it. He is truly a willing helper and a true asset.
If you are looking for more information on Veasey Memorial Park, see here.
What You Might’ve Missed:
Latest News
Council on Aging Newsletter. January/February Newsletter can be found here.
Energy Assistance. The Massachusetts home energy assistance program (LIHEAP) is a free resource to help eligible households pay a portion of winter heating bills.
Local agencies have been accepting LIHEAP (formerly known as fuel assistance) applications since October.
Learn about Home Energy Assistance – LIHEAP
A note from the Fire Department! While you’re out clearing the driveway, please remember to take a few minutes to clear off these other important areas.
Employment Opportunities
Town Planner. The Town of Groveland is seeking qualified applicants to join our team as the Town Planner. The purpose of this full-time position, 37.5 hours per week, is to direct and perform municipal land use planning functions and provide staff support to the various land use boards and committees. The Town Planner performs a wide range of municipal planning functions and provides review and analysis of development projects, provides technical planning assistance to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals and coordinates the town’s long range comprehensive planning activities. For more information see here.
Conservation Agent. The Town of Groveland is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Conservation Agent in the Conservation Commission Office. This is a part-time, 19 hour per week position. The Conservation Agent will serve as an advisor to the Conservation Commission and assist them in fulfilling their statutory and regulatory duties including. This position will be responsible for facilitating the administration and enforcement of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) and Town’s Wetlands Protection By-Law (Chapter 164) in addition to the planning, acquisition, administration, and management of municipal conservation land. For more information see here.
Department Spotlight:
Economic Development, Planning, and Conservation Department
Stormwater Management
The Economic Development, Planning, and Conservation Department is always keeping an eye on updates to State and Federal regulations that could have a direct impact on development within Groveland. Recently, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has proposed changes to the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations, which can be found at 310 CMR 10.00. The DEP is proposing revision to ensure resiliency throughout the Commonwealth due to the impacts of climate change.
Most notably in these proposed regulations is updates to stormwater standards such as replacing 60-year-old storm data, incentivizing the use of natural and ecological processes to handle stormwater, and overall better alignment with other stormwater management documents.
So how will these changes affect development in Groveland? Well, as we’ve seen this year, major storm events are becoming more and more common. These proposed changes will require developers to meet more stringent standards when developing stormwater infrastructure to better accommodate for the weather we’ve been experiencing. With these changes new developments will better be able to handle the large rain events we saw this summer and experience less flooding.
MassDEP has more information on these changes, as well as recorded presentation on their website, 310 CMR 10.00: Wetlands Protection Act Regulations | Mass.gov. Written comments can be submitted to the DDEP until 5 PM on March 1, 2024, more information on how to make comments can also be found on their website.
The Economic Development, Planning, and Conservation Department will continue to monitor proposed changes to the regulations.
Annie Schindler, Town Planner/Conservation Agent
