Newburyport police fleet: not green

The Newburyport Police Department owns 22 vehicles, according to a January 2008 list of the city's insured fleet. There may be more acquisitions in the subsequent months, and the list does not include police bicycles, for instance.

None of the vehicles are energy efficient.

Ten of the vehicles are from the Ford Crown Victoria line, though different years: one 1998, one 1999, one 2000, one 2002, one 2003, two 2005, two 2006, and one 2008. Clearly, as the police cruisers depreciate, accumulate mileage, and potentially get into accidents, new vehicles are bought.

Also in the Ford family are a 1995 Ford E350 van, two 1998 Ford Explorers, and a 2003 Ford Expedition.

The remaining police fleet includes a 2000 Dodge Intrepid, a 2004 Dodge Intrepid, two 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, two 2001 utility trailers, a 1998 yacht trailer, and a 1982 Charger Peacekeeper.

I'd like to focus on the Crown Vics, which are a standard with most police forces (and taxi companies) in the United States. Has anyone suggested to the Police Marshal and/or the Mayor to not just replace the same model when one dies but to invest in a cleaner, more energy efficient hybrid?

And I'm not referring to conceptual cars of the future, as shown in this Wired article.

I'm not about to start googling for what other police forces use, but for starters, how about the hybrid Ford Escape?

British police in London, as recently as last month, were eyeing the Mitsubishi Lancer as a replacement vehicle for new cop cars, as seen in this AutoblogGreen report. Granted, London and Newburyport roads differ but the point remains valid.

And ponder this for Newburyport: the Woburn police chief drives a Toyota Camry.

Starbucks to close

Starbucks in downtown Newburyport will close on May 12 for renovations. It's expected to re-open on May 22.

According to a barista I spoke to today while ordering a chai, improvements include the removal of the wall cabinets by the State Street door, installation of a counter top and stools for sitting at the counter, and general space maximization.

From Sweden to Newburyport

Do you know Swedish?

Some guy named Ludvig posted some Newburyport pictures on his blog, and I'm mildly curious what the commentary says.

In other news, have you seen all the (unofficial) Newburyport community websites?

1. newburyport01950.com tags itself as the Newburyport Community Website and is owned by Newburyport emergency management corps officer Don DeGloria Jr.

2. Don apparently also owns newburyport.com and cityofnewburyport.us, which both point to #1.

3. downtownnewburyport.com was purchased about a year ago through a private registration so I don't know who owns it, but the site content appears to be a week old. I have no idea what the site's purpose will be.

4. fishnewburyport.com, owned by Captain Bill Jarman.

5. movetonewburyport.com, owned by Century 21 as a real estate portal.

6. and the latest on the web is nbptma.com, bought earlier this year by Milford, NH resident Shawn Gearin and is allegedly designed to be an online encyclopedia of local history. Googling Gearin, he graduated Whittier Regional in 1986.

Clam shack makes Page 1

The Boston Globe today profiles an interview with Newburyport's remaining clam shack wannabe owner Mark Roland and others in a Page 1 story.

This comes on the heels of months of Zoning Board of Appeals meetings and numerous local press stories, not to mention recent posts by Gillian Swart and Tom Salemi. In two posts last year, both here and here, Mary Eaton chronicled the history of clam shacks along the section of Simmons Beach and about Councilor Larry McCavitt's restorative quest.

I don't know enough of the history to form an opinion but for what is obvious a historic building, I'd rather see it preserved than not. As Mr. Roland appears at the surface to be the only person who is doing something to preserve the structure, how is that a bad thing?

Rusty!

Seen outside Oldies Marketplace last weekend:



Anyone know what it was used for?

Buy Local, it's Fresh!

Following the very successful farmers' market, green technology building expo, and live music concert at Bartlet Mall during Earth Day weekend that attracted about 800 people over the course of four hours, a select group of farmers will return in about 36 hours.

The Newburyport Farmers’ Market opens its first season on Saturday, April 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Pond Street by the Bartlet Mall.

This weekend's participants include:

• Mike Vedrani from Amesbury with his amazing Powow River Maple Syrup
  
• Pettengill Farm from Salisbury with annuals, planters, and mixed containers
  
• Arrowhead Farm from Newburyport with spring hanging baskets, lots of herbs and vegetable plants, pansies, patio pots, "Living Salad Bowls," and a small selection of fruit trees
  
• Arrowhead Farm's Community Supported Agriculture program with information about memberships for this season

I will plan to stop by around 10 to buy some of the maple syrup. I sampled it last weekend, and man, was that stuff sweet. One of the ladies suggested I drizzle maple syrup over ice cream, a concept that sounds so simple and yummy yet I never considered it!

Spearheading the farmers' market (which I just realized uses an apostrophe after the "s" and not before it as I'd recently written in various Earth Day press releases) is Arrowhead's Dick Chase.

He hopes more farmers--and a larger selection of products--will be on hand as the growing season progresses.

Dick's motto? "Buy Local, Its Fresh!"

See you Saturday... and over coming weeks!

The farmers return

The farmers are back in Newburyport.

A mere six days after a farmer's market was held at Bartlet Mall as part of a Earth Day weekend celebration (read this and this) that attracted nearly 600 to 1,000 people to buy herbs, plants, and CSA shares, the market returns for what is planned to be a weekly event.

No more trekking down to Gloucester's weekly farmer's market.

The Bartlet Mall Commission is apparently behind this Newburyport initiative, spearheaded by Arrowhead Farm owner Dick Chase, whom Mayor John Moak praised at Tuesday night's green awards ceremony. A website will be launched in the near future, and a 501(c)3 designation is in the works.

So if you'd like to take a break this weekend from Newburyport's Literary Festival (where I'll be volunteering; see if you can spot me), head up to the Mall on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hooray for The Upper Crust

Ever since moving to Newburyport and eyeing the various pizza joints around town, I've secretly wanted a shop like the Upper Crust Pizzeria to arrive.

The Daily News reports my wish may come true.

For the record, I'm not a big pizza eater. In fact, I rarely eat the doughy fixture. With my healthy, low-carb diet, I treat pizza as a, err, treat. But, after trying pizzas from Abe's and Pizza Factory II (the closest to my apartment), I prefer to order pies these days from Angelina's over the bridge. I feel the Salisbury joint offers thinner pies with less grease.

Emily H., a Yelp reviewer, suggested last year that Nick's Pizza is better than Angelina's. I suppose I'll have to try Nick's.

In terms of comparisons to the Upper Crust's pies, I'd offer up Amesbury's Flatbread Pizza Co.

To no surprise, an anonymous commenter at the bottom of the above linked Daily News page is unhappy with the potential of the Upper Crust coming here:

I think if we keep going in this direction, Newburyport will cease to have the quaint charm that is what attracts most of our visitors. If we continue allowing chain restaurants/stores to take over downtown, Newburyport will just end up being "Anytown, USA."

I disagree. When you compare the tourism and commercial appeal of downtown Newburyport with Brookline's Coolidge Corner, Boston's Charles Street, and Waltham's Moody Street, you can see many common elements. Besides, Domino's and Pizza Hut are more like a chain than the UC. They may have numerous locations, but it's still Made in Massachusetts with only Mass. locations.

Tom Salemi, on his blog, agrees:

If we are going to get a chain, Upper Crust seems like the kind of chain store folks would prefer: a niche, Massachusetts-based company with locations in a number somewhat upscale locations. Newburyport does seem like a nice fit.

I've only eaten at the Upper Crust's Beacon Hill and Coolidge Corner locations, but after hearing of last year's opening in Salem, I figured it was only time before a franchise would come farther north... and if it's successful here, I would think it's very likely they'd cross the border, in a reverse role of Sal's southern crossing.

Where will all the seniors go?

Daily News reporter Stephen Tait covered last night's ZBA meeting in City Hall's council chamber, but apparently the paper failed to send a reporter upstairs to the auditorium for the City Council's planning & development subcommittee meeting.

As recently pointed out by the mystery man or woman behind Newburyport According to X, last night's meeting was devoted to the proposed feasibility plan to locate a senior center at Cushing Park.

The meeting was well attended with about 30 people, including Mayor John Moak, Council on Aging director Roseann Robillard, and the quorum of City Councilors James Shanley, Brian Derrivan, Donna Holaday, Ed Cameron, Kathleen O'Connor Ives, and Barry Connell (the latter three being the subcommittee composition).

After various city officials and others in attendance stressed the importance for a senior center due to current COA activities held in 6+ buildings around town and a projection for increased senior services over the next decades, and reviewing numerous sites considered around town (industrial park, Fulton Pit, Cashman Park, National Guard armory, etc.), talk focused on the proposed Cushing Park location.

One by one, people stood up and opined on locations, logistics, parking lines, and loud noises. (The latter being those of teenagers, if kids are playing in the fields adjacent to a Cushing Park site.)

Over the course of the 2-hour meeting, a few issues were resolved:

1. With respect to a senior center building on the waterfront, the mayor said the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority has never suggested such a site on their property.

2. Downtown locations are not preferred by Robillard despite proximity to the public library, post office, and other popular buildings. Her reasoning is that a lack of traffic congestion is more important that convenience.

3. The process to locate a senior center in Newburyport began over eight years ago, and everyone agrees it's crucial to end the process sooner than later.

Other issues were unresolved:

1. What to do with parking?

The mayor's 2006 feasibility plan, which is a draft at best, assumes so many square feet for the building and so much green space, which if it is to be the final plan, removes approximately 40 parking spaces from the current lot. However, the mayor argued the city ought to better manage the lot, such as issuing citations or removing non-conforming vehicles.

2. Can we locate by the Route 1 traffic circle and share a site with Newbury?

As long as the concept of Newburyport providing Newbury with water service for their Little River project remains outstanding, offers can still be put on the table, such as a combined senior center despite its proposed footprint being smaller than on Cushing Park.

3. Keep it a senior center alone, or combine it into a community center?

Spring tables and flowers

Maybe they sprung up earlier, but I noticed the new Inn Street tables and chairs for the first time today, sitting with a friend over ice cream and enjoying the views of the screaming children at the playground.



Atop each table is a sign, reading:
These tables and chairs
are for public use,
approved by the City of
Newburyport and
Provided by the Purple
Onion

Speaking of pretty weather, how about those flowers adorning the sidewalk flower pots?

Passed over

"Where is your Passover section?" I asked one of Market Basket's older clerks today as he stocked the beverage aisle in the Port Plaza chain.

"The what?" he asked me.

"The Passover section," I repeated. "Matzahs and such."

"Aisle 4," he said.

I walked to aisle 4 (or whatever number he said) and laughed to myself. He must have misheard me and thought I asked for the pasta aisle.

It was not much better down the hill at Shaw's, where two boxes of matzah sat on the top of a tiny shelf matrix for Middle Eastern foods.

Where do local Jews buy their Passover foods?

Happy Earth Day

Over 70 merchants, community organizations, and individuals throughout Newburyport and the surrounding region rallied together to set a standard this weekend for future Earth Day celebrations.

From a garden restoration...


...to a craft sale...


...to educating...



...to singing...


...Newburyport's 2008 Earth Day Celebration had something for everyone.

And it's not over yet. Today through 3 p.m., volunteers get dirty with Salisbury officials to extend the Salisbury Point Ghost Trail to Lion's Park. And at 5 over at Michael's Harborside, Mayor John Moak will present the city's first annual green awards to five recipients.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be meeting with various Earth Day volunteers to ascertain what worked and what didn't, and to begin preparations for next year.

Of the local bloggers, Gillian Swart praised Sunday's farmer's market on Bartlet Mall and opined it would be wonderful to have a regular farmer's market on the Mall.

And, Tom Salemi, while unable to attend the market, heard from one attendee that this was less veggie and more flowers/herbs? True?

The original intent of the farmer's market, according to state law under G.L. 101, Section 15 was for farmers to sell their fresh fruits and vegetables and for fishermen to sell their caught products. To no fault of Arrowhead Farm's Dick Chase, who spearheaded this initiative, we failed to involve the Board of Health earlier, so due to various local permits, the fruits, veggies, and fish were not allowed to be sold.

That said, with future planning in advance, such markets with plants, herbs, food, and fish are very likely. Whether it would be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, is to be determined but discussions, it should be noted, have already commenced.

It's also worth responding to one of Gillian's other comments on her blog:

Newburyport Pedicab made a pre-season showing to run people laden with purchases back to their cars or homes. I hope it was as successful as it looked to be.

The pedicabs were heavily used on Saturday, transporting families and other residents from downtown locations to the Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center; and on Sunday, going back and forth to and from the farmer's market.

Now, granted I've only lived here for about seven months, but Newburyport Pedicab only debuted last year, so it's amusing to read Gillian's sentence as if the pedicabs have existed for years.

My understanding is the pedicabs started operating last year concurrent to the Newburyport Literary Festival weekend (which occurs this weekend), starting a series of fairs and festivals lasting through the Santa Claus jumping off a boat parade in December. If this year's success is any indication of future years, it will be Earth Day, not the literary festival, which would jump-start the pedicabs.

On a side note, check out the Google search page today and you'll see how the clever programmers transmogrified the 6-letter brand name into an image of green shrubbery. (Wow, did I just use "transmogrified" and "shrubbery" in the same sentence?)

The Puberty of Talking Books

You know that stage in human puberty when the body changes and people react differently?

I just came across the Jabberwocky BookShop's blog, Talking Books.

Take a look at the blog in Internet Explorer and it looks like any other blog. But if you plug in the address in Mozilla Firefox, it looks horrendously misaligned.

Newburyport opposites?

Check out this video from Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and let me know your thoughts on who would be the best pairings from Newburyport to similarly speak about climate change or any other universal issue.

Looking back

A google search for the "Independent Calvinistic Church of Newburyport" turns up empty.

If I didn't live on Prospect Street and wasn't curious about its history, I wouldn't have heard of the church either.

Apparently, sometime in the late 1700s, around the time of the 4th Religious Society in Newburyport, the Independent Calvinists made their home in a church on the corner of Prospect and Temple Streets. (Today's maps have Prospect and Temple running parallel so my guess is the church was situated either along today's Fair Street or Federal Street.)

During the early 1800s, the church was converted into the Prospect Street Meeting House, which along with the City Hall auditorium, was used for festive gatherings, funerals and the like.

Edward Wigglesworth's funeral service in 1826 was one of the more notorious events held at the meeting house, according to The History of Newburyport, Massachusetts: 1764-1905 by John J. Currier.

Born in 1741 in Ipswich, Wigglesworth graduated Harvard College in 1761 and earned a wage for many years working in Newburyport for various shipmasters. In July 1776, he was appointed Colonel of a local Continental Army battalion, and he remained in active service through 1779 before entering politics: Newburyport selectman from 1783-84, elected state representative to the General Court in 1785, and Newburyport Custom House collector from 1792-95.

As to the history of my street, Currier writes that Prospect was initially laid out around 1749 and was not complete from State to Bromfield until 1874.

Looking to Rock Port

In 30 minutes, the City Council's planning and development committee will jointly meet with the Planning Board's wind energy subcommittee.

I have other plans tonight but I'll be following up on the takeaway points.

I raise this issue in the wake of this week's news that the community of Rock Port, Missouri is poised to become the first city in the country to be powered 100% from wind generation.

In a story at renewableenergyworld.com, a facility located on city-owned parkland "will produce up to 16 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, which exceeds the 13 million kWh Rock Port uses each year."

Granted, Rock Port in the extreme northwest of Missouri occupies 2.9 square miles and had 1,395 residents in the 2000 census, but the concept of a city powered solely from the wind is no small feat.

Considering the Newburyport Sewer Department, for instance, consumed 2,525,476 kWh of electricity across 17 locations in fiscal 2007, there is an argument to reduce that number to something more efficient without sacrificing the power of anaerobic digesters and diffusers.

A wind turbine, or a farm of them, will not singularly help decrease Newburyport's energy footprint. Like the solar panels atop the Tannery mill buildings and the geothermal technology that the Parker River refuge headquarters installed, we need a little bit of everything to offset nuclear and fossil fuels.

If Mark Richey Woodworking had not proposed the installation of a turbine, would the Planning Board have gotten involved as soon as they had? I don't know the answer to that. But I thank the committee and other concerned citizens for looking into wind power.

I don't suggest Newburyport follows Rock Port's example, but I do believe that Rock Port should be studied as a small-scale version of Newburyport and to give perspective to what's possible with renewable energy.

Daily News Promotes Smoking

I don't like the subject of this post but there's no denying the facts.

In Tuesday's edition of the Daily News, I read this article that is part of a special supplement focusing on businesses north of Boston.

Newburyport staff reporter Stephen Tait profiled Maytag Appliance in Salisbury, for instance, whereas Charles Frost profiled Two Guys Smoke Shop, a New Hampshire chain with locations in Seabrook and Salem. (I recognize Frost is not based in Newburyport but he's part of the corporate reporting staff out of Andover or Haverhill or such.)

Two Guys Smoke Shop offers strictly cigars, specifically premium, hand-rolled cigars, said [owner Roy] Kirby, who adamantly said that he does not sell cigarettes.

This is my first beef. Why does Kirby insist he doesn't sell cigarettes, and why is that an issue to Frost to keep in the article?

Aren't both men aware of the cigar smoking facts distributed by the National Cancer Institute? It doesn't matter whether one is smoking a cigar or a cigarette; inhalation may be less with a cigar but tobacco and nicotine levels are higher than in a cigarette.

Kirby said a lot of his business comes from word of mouth as well as television and newspaper advertising. He noted that a large contingent of his customers come from Massachusetts where residents realize that they can go to New Hampshire and avoid paying tax.

I'm all for the press to publicize businesses, but aren't we going too far to advocate cigar smoking residents of Newburyport need to cross state lines to avoid paying taxes?

"I have a lot of regular customers that come in on a regular basis who hang around in the store and smoke cigars," Kirby said. "I've seen a lot of newer customers. With warmer weather, there is a whole new emergence of people."

Great, now younger wannabe smokers will want to experience the so-called pleasures of cigar smoking. What kind of role model is the Daily News setting for Newburyport youth, whom the BEACON Coalition is trying to ween off smoking?

Not seen online, but in the print version, there is a quarter-page advertisement by the smoke shop that appears several pages before Frost's story. So, not only is the paper promoting (underage) smoking but it's accepting ad revenue too.

Councillor Conflict

Neither Greg Earls nor Tom O'Brien attended a conflict of interest seminar I organized last December. In fact, none of the re-elected incumbent City Council members attended. The new folks from both the council and the School Committee showed up: Ed Cameron, Nick deKanter, Kathleen O'Connor Ives, and Stephanie Weaver for sure; I don't remember if Brian Derrivan was there.

My point in bringing up a 4-month-old public meeting that was led by a municipal education specialist with the state Ethics Commission revolves around something that occurred at tonight's City Council meeting.

Or, rather, something that did not occur.

Twice.

This story begins with Earls, who requested Communication #2 be removed from the consent agenda. So moved, so seconded, so approved. During subsequent deliberations, Earls said a relative worked at Oregano Pizzeria so he felt it worthy to recuse himself from the vote.

Nice man, recusing himself.

But if he understood the conflict of interest law, he'd recognize that the law involves not just individual statements but the appearance as well. He should have stood and left the room during any possible deliberation and vote. He did neither, and while there was no deliberation, there was a vote when he said, "present," as if that excuses his remaining in the room.

At least he didn't deliberate, something that former City Councillor Audrey McCarthy constantly did on issues involving the police department despite her husband's employment in the department.

But back to the present. Earls was the first conflict.

During a different part of the meeting, while the council debated approving re-appointments for the director and deputy director of the Department of Public Services to be special police officers, O'Brien wondered aloud whether Andrew Lafferty, the fairly-new deputy director of the department, ought to be re-appointed or merely appointed as it's his first employment in the city.

Fair enough question, but as O'Brien's daughter works for the department, there is a clear conflict there. He should have said nothing. Steve Hutcheson sat next to him, so all O'Brien had to do was scribble a note and Hutcheson could have made the comment.

But it's not all bad news: Toward the end of the meeting, Earls deserves credit for asking councillors to email him questions about some issue but stressed they should not engage in commentary or discussions in email; just questions.

Earth Hour: Looking back and ahead

I shot this photo of the front facade of the Newburyport Public Library during Earth Hour, on Saturday night, March 29, 2008, at approximately 8:15 p.m.

Note the lights.

Readers of this blog may recall this post about two weeks ago when I wrote about the Earth Hour phenomena that was spreading around the planet like wildfire.

Northampton, Falmouth, and Martha's Vineyard were the only communities in Massachusetts that officially pledged and signed onto the global initiative.

Boston didn't participate, as the Boston Globe later reported.

I walked around Newburyport, shot pictures here or there, and took mental notes for next year. It's not as important that *every* light turns off, but at least shut the landmark lights off.

By landmark lights, I refer to the neon Fowle's sign, the Unitarian church steeple, the outdoor lit clock across from Rosie O'Shea's, the still-Christmas lights within the Market Square bullnose trees, the al-fresco patio lights in front of Not Your Average Joe's.

I recently purchased a domain, newburyportearthhour.info, which is parked without content right now but will be updated as necessary in the coming months.

I'd like to see Newburyport, the going green community it is, step up to the global warming plate in every way possible. Earth Hour, included.

Lack of respect

In today's Daily News, Julia Kirst wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the Newburyport High School administration for not respecting the students regarding their planned April Fools prank.

Kirst is no stranger to youth-adult relationships, as she points out in her letter. The selling point for me was respect: If we don't give it, we don't get it.

Kirst argues the adults did not respect the students, which to my recollection is one of the takeaway points from a recent report by the BEACON Coalition.

I wait for a counter letter to the editor on this matter.

More on Earth Day

As of tonight, there are 25 merchants signed onto the Earth Day celebration. Two in Amesbury, one in Newbury, and the rest in Newburyport; the latter stretching from Vitamin's Etc to the Carry Out Cafe.

And rumor has it another 10-20 are expected to sign on in the coming days.

And that's just the merchants.

Full listing at www.newburyportearthday.info. I hope all the local bloggers will add something about this. Spread the green!

Newburyport's Earth Day Celebration

Earth Day is celebrated globally on April 22, and Newburyport is no exception.

While over 25 events and venues are being planned for the weekend of April 19, two green art exhibits began this week.

The calendar of events with detail and description is at the official website at www.NewburyportEarthDay.info.

The website is a work in progress, as new events and new participating merchants are added daily.

With liberty and justice

Have you ever seen Newburyport's official city flag?

Only one exists today, and it's in the Massachusetts State House, along the east wall in the Great Hall. Look up at the middle row at position #50 and you'll see it.

The flag was designed by Byfield manufacturer Bisgrove Designs and they didn't make another copy.

Any other Newburyport flags you think you've seen, such as the greenish one hanging in the City Council chamber, is not official. (The greenish one was made exclusively for some city celebration.)

But even the State House flag is not official. Not really. It's more of a large-scale representation of the city seal that IS in the City Council chamber.

Before I left the employ of the mayor, I'd worked with Veteran's Agent Kevin Hunt to determine the best way to design, procure, and install new flags. I figured one to hang outside City Hall, one at the library, one for each of the schools, and so forth.

Kevin recently told me he is amid discussions with other city officials and some outside folks to best design this flag.

I don't know how much flags cost, but maybe some businesses could step in and sponsor the purchase of so many flags. And each sponsor could receive a free flag for their own business.

Imagine walking down State Street and instead of seeing U.S. flags suspended off buntings at Chase & Lunt, you'd see a proud city flag.

And we don't need new poles either. It appears that as long as the U.S. flag is highest, any other flag can fly below on the same pole.

Wouldn't it be great to hoist up new flags--and new designs--on National Flag Day on June 14?

Pretty new domain

Taking advantage of a domain sale at online hedonistic advertiser and registrar GoDaddy, the Newburyport Report is now accessible from a new domain.

Doesn't it look pretty in your browser's location bar?

Speaking of pretty things, today was beautiful outside with temperatures in the 60s.

Unfortunately, a maelstrom began around the 5th inning of the Red Sox game, with howling winds and pouring rain. The weather forecast includes rain the rest of the week: a sprinkle here, a downpour there. Eeek!