Category Archives: Environment

The environment, Newburyport, MA, the air, water, minerals, organisms, plants and other external factors surrounding and affecting the ecology and physical environment of Newburyport

Landfill and Everett

On the Landfill, one of the things that I have never seen happen, is that, as far as I know, and as far as I can imagine, I could not imagine that any of our local politicians, Mayor John Moak or any person on the Newburyport City Council ever taking a campaign contribution from the owners of the Landfill.

From what I remember, that could not be the case in other towns.

And eons and eons ago I talked to one of the editors of The Everett Mirror and said that I would let the readers of the Newburyport Blog know of the existence of their blog and the ongoing “relationship” that Everett has with our very same Landfill owner, and the “unfortunate” situation that they would also be in.

And recently Gillian Swart over at Port Reporter Unlimited in one of her post on the Landfill alerts readers to another blog, The Doughboy Chronicals and their account of the very same folks.

Newburyport is not alone.

Landfill Craziness

I was talking to one of my fellow local bloggers a few days ago about why the Mayor of Newburyport, MA and the Newburyport City Council would not just say an immediate and resounding “No” to the Landfill owner’s new, very invasive request–shipping in lots and lots of more stuff, and NOT capping the retched thing NOW, and leaving the good folks of Newburyport, MA alone, and doing the whole thing right. Good grief.

I told my fellow local blogger that I would “bet the ranch” that the mayor and every Newburyport City Councilor understands the crazy and agonizing stuff that people have gone through for years (one only has to have one whiff of noxious odor to get the message real quick). But that my guess would be that the owner of the Landfill would have come up with some sort of legal “Gordian knot” to further complicated an untenable situation, and continued to make it really, really hard for the City of Newburyport, MA to get rid of the fellow.

And, yes, it appears that is what it would boil down to.

And, the reality is, which I’m pretty sure every politician and former politician and civil servant and former civil servant in Newburyport, MA would know, is that it wouldn’t take much to cap the damn thing and to leave us all alone.

A reality show nightmare that just appears to keep on “giving.”

My Gold Finches are Back

My finches, my beautiful self-sustaining pets, Gold Finches are back!

It seemed to me that every year around October, all of a sudden after a mad feeding frenzy, where we all would go through a good bag of finch food a week, poof, they were gone, and didn’t come back until around Mother’s Day the following spring.

But a kind and faithful reader of the Newburyport Blog, emailed me that no, my finches were still about, and to keep the finch food out for the winter, and I would see my pretty little friends, for sure. And this was reinforced by another local bird lover. So, I put my finch food feeder out for the winter, where I could get to it, and replenish it on a regular basis.

But alas, no finches. The finch food never went down. Just stayed dismally the way it was for the whole winter. Alack.

And when the snow melted, I moved my finch feeder to a spot which I thought might be more finch conducive, but, “Oh dear,” still no finches.

I was beginning to think I had lousy finch food.

I thought I spotted a Gold Finch yesterday by the birdbath. The brightest, daffodil colored speck. And here they are, back again at the beginning of May, just the way they always arrive, right on time. So far, two “couples.” And maybe more may come.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Weird Bike Lane Politics

A little history on the weird Bike Lane politics. Oy Veh.

The High Street Master Plan was presented at a Public Hearing in 2004, to cheers, except for Tom O’Brien, who was at that time the President of the Newburyport City Council. The mayor (Mary Anne Clancy) was at that meeting. All seemed to be well. In fact, all seemed to be great.

(And as a btw, the High Street Master Plan calls for things like textured cross walks, that look like bricks, but are not, so the Fire, Police and DPW could navigate without any problem, brick sidewalks for all of High Street, and yes, trees, and other good stuff.)

As I recall the Newburyport Planning Office had urged the mayor to give the press, press releases before the bike lanes, (the first phase of the High Street Master Plan) went down, so that people would have some information, and not be totally surprised. It is my recollection, that that piece of civic information never made it to the press, and the bike lanes were a surprise to folks who weren’t following along, which turned out to be almost everyone in Newburyport, MA.

Massive confusion and a visceral dislike of the bike lanes followed (this is a vast understatement). The Newburyport City Council decided that it would be prudent to officially vote on the High Street Master Plan, which they did, and it passed.

Then the Mayor, Mary Anne Clancy, vetoed the plan, and there were not enough votes on the Newburyport City Council to override the mayor’s bike lane veto (you need a lot of votes for such things as overriding vetoes).

What a mess.

What a mess especially because the bike lanes were only partially done. For example, as I remember, there was no signage put up to explain to the bikers and drivers when the bike lanes would stop and when bikes and cars would share road space together.

The rounded painted corners look like parking spaces. They are not. If things had been finished, those areas would have been striped, for no parking, so that people could have proper “sight lines,” or in other words, be able to see traffic coming from either direction.

And of course the textured crosswalks never got done, to help slow down traffic further.

All of this, and other stuff, left us in Newburyport, MA, in “bike lane limbo.”

So I would imagine that the Newburyport Planning Office and the Newburyport City Council would dust off the High Street Master Plan, take a good look at it after 4 years now, and decide what to do next. And give the public, I am sure, all kinds of good and helpful information.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

High Street, a Little History

Let’s have a little chat. Let’s have a little chat about how in the world did we end up having a High Street Master Plan, and what about those wretched (for some) bike lanes.

To go back to the beginning, sort of. In January of 1995, the city of Newburyport, MA asked and then received a grant from the Massachusetts Highway Department to fix High Street. The original grant (all of this can be found on the High Street website under “Reference Documents.”) acknowledged that it would adhere to Federal and State “design requirements.”

What the “design requirements” ended up being (all of this being presented to the City of Newburyport, 3 years later, in 1998, on 52 detailed pages) was the removal of 77 trees, 3 traffic lights (one at Three Roads, one at the High School and a new one at High and State Street), and a whole lot of other things that people weren’t too crazy about.

The new stop light at High and State Street required that the street be widened and a number of feet be taken by right (I believe) from the Mobile Station at the corner of State and High, all the way down to somewhere around Fruit Street or lower. And a retaining wall to be put up, to hold up that part of the “Ridge.”

It took about a year to get people’s attention, about what was about to happen to High Street, and the residences, once they got the message, pretty much went berserk, and MassHighway finally backed down in the fall of 1999.

Long, long story, but the long and short of it, was that the residence wanted the street to be historically restored, and also wanted traffic to be slowed down without stoplights.

Years of research and public hearings later, a (beautiful, in my mind) High Street Master Plan was created in 2004. And to “calm” traffic (or make it go slower) one of the elements were the bike lanes.

And, it is my belief, that before the bike lanes went down, and there was just a yellow strip down the middle, with wide open spaces on either side, it was real easy to go down High Street at 50 miles an hour, and that was not uncommon.

It’s hard to go more than 40 miles an hour now, and often the speed is more like 30 miles an hour, which, except for around the schools, would be the speed limit.

So the bike lanes do appear to “calm” or slow down traffic. And they also do other things, like get people out of their cars to walk and bike. And it appears, at this point, that we would like a walkable and bikable community.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

High Street Master Plan and Bike Lanes

My.

I’ve always thought that The High Street Master Plan is inspirational, and quite frankly, a little bit a head of its time, with its emphasis on “green living,” walkable and bikable community, much less restoring High Street to its rightful glory.

But then again, a great many people disagreed with me about those bike lanes (yes, this is a vast understatement).

Full disclosure: Ever since February 1999, I’ve been working towards a High Street Master Plan, and was beyond joyous when the Newburyport Planning Office presented the High Street Master Plan in 2004 to an enthusiastic crowd. And befuddled beyond belief by the convoluted politics that followed, leaving us in “bike lane limbo.”

Do I want this inspirational plan to go forward? Yup, you bet I do. And am I extremely grateful that the Newburyport City Council has put this way up on their “to do” priority list? Yup, you bet I am.

Wow.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Too Mush and Much Snow

I ask the young lady on the other end of the phone, who has been unbelievably patient with me, if she is in “snow hell.”

She replies that yes, her office is in Boston, and she is in “snow hell.” And that she has had a “snow hell” commute.

I reply that I too am in “snow hell.”

We immediately bond. Which is a very good thing, because the transaction (not due to either of our “expertise” in the matter) takes like forever.

I try to pretend that I am in “snow denial.” But this appears to be impossible. The snow reality is just too obvious.

The minute I find out that our last remaining hardware store in Newburyport, MA gets yet another order of salt in (I’ve missed all the others), I rush over and hoard bags of salt madly. (Apparently I am not alone, since each order apparently disappears in sometimes under an hour.)

My balance, on the slippery stuff, quite frankly, “stinks.” (I was going to use a stronger word, but I decide not to.)

I look skeptically at the icicles forming off my roof. I used my roof rake so this is not supposed to happen. However, it is. I look around at my neighbor’s dwellings and everyone has dagger like icicles hanging from somewhere. We are all in icicle land together.

This is somehow comforting.

The owner of the hardware store (this is why I love my small New England city, because of things like conversing with the hardware store owner) says the same thing. He has a hardware store, and it looks like even he could be in “snow hell” (although he would never admit such a thing). That we are all in this together.

This is very reassuring as I carry my hoarded bags of salt out to my automobile, and everyone at the hardware store seems to think that this is perfectly normal.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Fruit Street, Newburyport Winters

I remember when rooting around in the Archives at the Newburyport Public Library coming across a beautiful winter scene. But for the life of me, I do not remember where in the Newburyport Archival Center online I had seen it.

But then, eureka, it is discovered once again.

And yes, the historic photograph most certainly is charming and captures not only the feel of Newburyport, for goodness sakes how many years ago, but also, in my mind, the charm and feel of Newburyport’s neighborhoods today.

Fruit Street, Looking up towards High Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center
The Newburyport Public Library

And one of the reasons Fruit Street has a similar feel in the year 2007, is because the architecture of the street is basically the same. And a lot of that would be due to just plain “dumb luck,” since The National Architectural Trust says that we have lost one third of our historic housing stock since 1984. But, Fruit Street is now the one street in Newburyport, MA that is protected. Because this year Fruit Street became Newburyport, MA’s first Local Historic District.

Detail, Fruit Street, Looking up towards High Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center
The Newburyport Public Library

And looking at the photograph closer, I enjoy the horse and buggy (yet another horse and buggy) coming down Fruit Street, the little boy at the side, and what looks like folks shoveling (no snow blowers here) further up the street. And I wonder, how in the world back then did they plow the streets. I have no idea.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Charming New England Winters

Winter in New England is often described as “charming.”

This winter scene from c. 1860 of Green Street from the Newburyport Archives would certainly be considered “charming.”

Green Street c. 1860
Courtesy Newburyport Archival Center
Newburyport Public Library

And this beautiful detail of the same photograph. The church in the background I believe is the church on Green Street that has been made into a restaurant.

Detail, Green Street c. 1860
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center
Newburyport Public Library

Ah, but so often the realities in Newburyport MA look and feel much more like this:

A winter storm
Wikipedia.org

Stephen Tait in the Newburyport Daily News wrote, what in my mind was a fairly “scary” article on what Mr. Karp and the “super-wealthy” have done to Nantucket. (After reading Mr. Tait’s article, “High-End Homogenization” to me seems “quaint.”)

“… it (Nantucket) has lost its innocence..” “I think Karp is going the wrong direction. He wants everything to be upscale and sophisticated…”

“…the island attracting the wealthy, the middle and upper middle class families are no longer traveling to the island for vacation because it is too expensive…”

“.. the super rich don’t necessarily add to the local economy since they fly in their own chefs, their own staff and host parties at their residences…” (Newburyport Daily News, December 17, 2007, by Stephen Tait. Read the whole thing. In fact, it’s a “must read”.)

And the charm of Newburyport, which attracts and has attracted so many, may well be only for a chosen few. And in my mind that would wipe out the “charming” image of Green Street, and replace it with the image of the winter storm.

Ouch.

New England Driveway Snowdrifts

Because of where my dwelling is located and how it is built, I find I am prone to snowdrifts, as in snowdrifts blocking my front door (and my heating vent, see earlier entry).

Snowdrifts, Wikipedia.org
GNU Free Documentation License

No, not quite that bad.

An habitual planner and often obsessive “can I solve this,” attempting problem solver, I set my mind this summer, to the dilemma of New England snowdrifts, particularly, my snowdrifts.

I Google “snow drifts,” and learn all about snow and wind patterns. Who knew. Actually, all interesting stuff.

I decide that, “ah ha,” it would be good to have something at an angle to my dwelling, to direct all those northeasterly winds away from my residence.

I then massively research stationary and possible portable snow-fences.

But then I have this idea. My neighbors park in my driveway. What if we put our cars at an angle and use the automobiles as snowdrift, wind directories, channeling the wind, snow and sleet away from my abode.

My neighbors and fellow driveway dwellers, are obliging.

Sunday, after many, many inches of snow and lots of northeasterly wind, another possible “eureka.” No wild drifts up against my doorway.

My first nor’easter, testing trial. But as in any good “scientific” experiment, this would only be a first good indicator. Fingers crossed and automobiles angled.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

New England Snow and Rain, Nor’easter

What an odd day today, Sunday, December 16, 2007 in Newburyport, MA.

The weather folks seem to be so happy when there is the potential of a major storm. Top of the hour or half hour, instead of the last of the show. Sometimes almost the entire hour.

Snow On Trees, wikipedia.org
Creative Commons Attribution

Me, I bless the computer. I check weather.com or weatherperhour.com, sometimes, even more reliable, to find out the vagaries of snow, wind, sleet and rain.

It looked like another good foot of snow on our small New England Street. And before the sleet and rain started, the neighborhood came out to shovel and snow-blow. My neighbor’s snow blower is named “Betsy.” The snow blower, in all honesty looks like a “Betsy.” Well named and much appreciated.

We all manage to get most of the snow moved off driveways and cars before the sleet and rain started. And my neighbor is right, it ends up raining hard.

I feel virtuous having checked the weather on my trusted computer. And now I’m out in the rain trying to make room in the slushy street, so that the water from the driveway can find its way beyond my dwelling to some hopeful municipal water depository.

I feel like a small girl again, playing in the trickles of waterways, in upstate New York, as my father takes his beloved fly rod and heads up stream to find a willing brown trout.

I have one of these heater vents that looks like a nipple, that sticks out from the side of the house.

And when it snows, yes, my heating vent, like so many side heating vents all over New England, gets covered with snow.

After fretting about what to do for it, it seems like forever, I might actually have come up with a solution. A sheet of metal, corrugated roof, cut to six feet, lined with duck tape to make the edges less sharp, is propped up against the side of the house at an angle, and weighted down with a four bricks, so as not to blow away.

I actually sleep through the night, not worried about the nipple vent being covered with snow. And go out in the morning, with great pride, to inspect my so far, un-snowed in heating vent. A possible “eureka.”

My neighbor seems as impressed and pleased as I am at this possible “solution,” knowing my frustrations over the years. A suggestion is made to “patent” the idea. But I’m not sure that corrugated, roofing sheet metal, sold almost everywhere, could be patented. Alas.

And I go out in the rain with my roof-rake, bought in some previous New England winter. I discovered that removing a mere 1-2 feet of snow towards the edge of the roof, somehow allows possible appropriate melting, and few icicles or possible ice backup. So I’m happy to go out in the rain and send soaking snow, plopping down from the roof.

And the rain is letting up, and maybe the street and sidewalks will drain a little before the weather gets cold again, setting mushy watery stuff, into solid ice.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Swarms of Starling Visitors

Early Sunday morning hundreds of Starlings descended on my lawn/green stuff and madly started pecking.

Who knew that my lawn/green stuff could provide a gourmet meal for Starlings.

They would peck madly, fly off in a swarm, and then come back and peck madly again. The lawn would suddenly turn speckled, dark grey. But, I guess they’ve moved on, because I haven’t seen them since.

When I lived on the island (Plum Island) Starlings would descend this time of year onto trees that had berries on them. Well, that made sense, but my frozen solid lawn? Gourmet, yummy stuff? Got me.

I just assumed they were Starlings. But I thought since I was going to talk about them on the Newburyport Blog, that maybe I better make sure, well as sure as possible, that the fact that they could be Starlings, and not some other bird.

And it wasn’t very hard to find flock of Starling stuff on the World Wide Web. And sure enough, my trusted friend Wikipedia had info on Starlings.

Starlings, just like the one’s on my lawn.
Daniel Plazanet (Daplaza)
Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike

And I found out a very cool thing about Starlings.

“All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds released in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. A group dedicated to introducing America to all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works set the birds free. Today, European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, and their population is estimated at over 200 million birds.”
(www.birds.cornell.edu)

That’s a heck of a lot of birds. And just a bunch came and visited me briefly, pecking madly.

Mary Eaton
Nwburyport

Fall Gardening Heresy

During one of those winter’s from hell a few years ago where people lost all sorts of stuff from their gardens, I made a startling discovery. A lot of the bushes, plants, green stuff that I had so meticulously raked leaves off of during the fall, croaked. The green stuff that had collected fall leaves around them, not only made it, but seemed to flourish.

So, voila, my fall raking habits took a turn for the “un-recommended.”

I now don’t rake leaves under any of the green stuff, bushes, plants, whatever, but instead, I not only leave the leaves, but actually heap extra leaves on top. I figure it’s worked for Mother Nature for millions of years, why shouldn’t it work for moi, even though everything I’ve ever read says that that would be “gardening heresy”.

And I figure all those leaves that are taken to the Newburyport City dump turn to “compost,” which, in the spring, people then go and get and put in their yards. Why not save a trip to the Newburyport City compost heap, and just have the process take place where I happen to live?

I also stopped cutting stuff back. More possible gardening heresy.

Nothing so far has croaked as a result of this highly “un-recommended” gardening strategy of mine. Instead I save hours not doing stuff that would drive me crazy. Little birds seem to like pecking at the dried up seeds that are left. And in the spring, depending on the green stuff, there are these little stick flags, sticking up, reminding me, that, “Oh yes, something grew there last spring. Let’s clear whatever may be on there now, and find out whatever it could be.”

And a lot of times, by April, the leaves that were left and heaped on all the green stuff, have disintegrated into nice, yummy dirt. Whatever hasn’t, then gets flopped onto various “decorative” mulch piles sitting about here and there.

And my late fall garden has a “relaxed,” Mother Nature look. Unlike the yards of my neighbors (obviously my “wayward” gardening habits have not spread) which have tidy yard appearances.

And I also have a ruthless, survival of the fittest, “gardening” style. My gardening procedure is that if the green stuff survives and spreads then, “eureka” the stuff stays and gets put other places around my dwelling. Of course this does limit things to select hardy selection. But it still looks Ok to moi. And I’m getting to the point where hassle less, low maintenance gardening stuff, is really working for me.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Self-Sustaining November Pets

My self-sustaining pets, the finches. The beautiful Gold Finches.

A very kind reader of the Newburyport Blog emailed me a while back, to let me know that, no, my self-sustaining pets, the Gold Finches, actually stick around for the winter, they don’t fly on South.

Cool.

Love this.

Apparently the males turn from a bright yellow to a muted grey.

So instead of dumping out the finch food the way I do every fall, I filled the finch feeder back up to see what would happen.

Low and behold, a few days later, there were a couple of very drab (sorry guys) birds pecking away. They were so drab that they were difficult to tell them apart from the less than swanky or colorful finch feeder.

I can tell when the finches have been hanging around, because the finch food all of a sudden starts to get low. But, alas, the finch food has not.

So, I go and talk to the bird feeder fellow out at the traffic circle (the place where the policeman stopped me for being too aggressive, trying to enter the traffic circle– see earlier entry). And yes indeed, the kind reader of the Newburyport Blog is correct, the finches stick around. According to the finch feeder fellow, some of his clients have feeders that are swarming with drab winter Gold Finches.

Not at my house, however. And no answer to this — the mystery of no finches.

It can’t be because they don’t like my cooking, because what I’m serving up to the finches, who aren’t showing up, is all store-bought stuff.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport’s Central Waterfront

I gotta say that it’s great fun taking a computer break and then being able to check out Tom Salemi’s blog, Newburyport Posts. I get a big kick out of it.

Newburyport Posts has been discussing the possibility of not having a park/parking on the Central Waterfront but mixed-use building.

Sigh.

Some history here. The fight for an Open Waterfront and not a hotel was fierce and ended up in court. And I can’t sight particular sources here, but it is my remembrance that Mr. Foster paid a fortune fighting that legal battle, eventual losing, and during the recession of the early 1990’s the Lagasses bought up much of what Roger Foster owned downtown, shall we say, for a “fair price.”

The 2 questionnaires that went out did not include the option of mixed-use building, i.e. retail and residential space, but it was all about a hotel or an open waterfront. (Folks please feel free to email me with clarifications on all of this very complicated, decades, long history.) (Please see Editor’s note at the bottom of the post.)

It is my own humble opinion that way back whenever that was, that was the time to discuss other options, not now.

I have a vague memory (again clarification may be needed) that when Nick Cracknell was Newburyport Planning Director, it was thought that from a city planning point of view, that mix-used on the Central Waterfront could make long-range sense.

However, to do something of that magnitude, would take incredible political will, complete consensus (good luck on that one, it’s only been how many decades now?), and a consistency in the corner office and in the Newburyport Planning Office (again, could be unlikely).

This would be my guess–that if the chit-chat of mixed-use on the Central Waterfront actually gets some traction, we could see the Moak parking folks and the pro-Open Waterfront folks come to an agreement lightening fast, and together fight like crazy against a mixed-use concept.

And I would be correct on my prediction (please press here for earlier post) that the Central Waterfront would never be completed in my lifetime.

At the moment, as it stands, I could actually lose that bet with myself. Because it looks like a meeting of the minds, a consensus, could actually be a possibility.

(And don’t forget all the folks who want a senior center on the Central Waterfront as well.)

And just for argument’s sake, it would be my feeling that having open space in that area, would be very much of an economic booster. This is not just any vista, but a chance to get a gander at the mouth of the mighty Merrimac River, with all its power, its beauty, its strength, its drama and its sense of hope and possibility, churning its way to the vast Atlantic Ocean.

There are not many such panoramas. And this one certainly consciously and/or unconsciously gives hope to my soul, and is one of the reasons that I like to live here so much. And I would imagine that concept could be applicable to other souls as well.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Editor’s Note: Corrections and clarifications can be found on a later entry. Please press here to see that post.

I’ve used the phrase “Central Waterfront” to reference the two NRA waterfront lots. The “Waterfront” or “Waterfront West” and “Waterfront East” would be the property owned by Mr. Karp and New England Development. The “Waterfront” is also often used to describe the whole “shebang” down there along the might mouth of the Merrimac River.

The Newburyport City Council Election

Question: Whether or not to go negative?

The question of whether or not to “go negative” on the Newburyport Blog as the Newburyport city election gets nearer (next Tuesday, November 6, 2007) is something that I’ve been wrestling with.

This is a small town, we meet at places like the grocery store and yes, at places like Newburyport City Hall.

There is one candidate that I am particularly concerned about– Al Lavender.

On Sunday, a friend of mine told me about the fundraiser that Mayor John Moak had thrown. And frankly, it was a stroke of genius.

$5.00 for all you could eat, delicious homemade food. I actually know some of the cooks that most probably did some of the cooking, and from what my friend told me, it sounded absolutely “yummy.”

A little like an old fashion church or community dinner, great food, fun, family, fellowship, available for all folks on all socio-economic levels. Very little in the way of political pronouncements. A good time had by all.

It’s one of the reasons Mayor John Moak was so successful in the last election. The “face” of his campaign was your average Newburyport resident, who is not normally involved in Newburyport city politics. And it spoke volumes.

The average resident, given the choice between a thoughtful person talking about issues, or a home cooked dinner that any senior could afford, which says “community” loud and clear–the average resident, I believe, would pick the candidate with “the dinner” every time.

And Mayor John Moak was at the fundraiser surrounded by various politicians and various former mayors, including Al Lavender.

Sigh.

1) On December 2001, $4,690,000 (that’s right 4.7 Million dollars) was on the table for the complete redesign of High Street (yup, that included things like brick sidewalks).

Mayor Al Lavender in 2002 agreed to a mere $792,425 instead (Yup, that’s leaving 4 Million dollars in MassHighway’s pocket. I’m sure that they could not have been more delighted. I was not.)

All of this is documented on High Street’s website under “Reference Documents.”

2) Mayor Al Lavender is widely credited for signing the “Host Agreement” with New Ventures creating the nightmare that the City of Newburyport, MA has had with the Crow Lane Landfill ever since.

3) Mayor Al Lavender granted a “buddy” a piece of the Newburyport Rail Trail. This was discovered at the very last minute. The Newburyport City Council, the Newburyport Planning Office, the Rail Trail folks and even the Newburyport City Solicitor (I do believe) knew nothing about this. (Fortunately the whole thing has been resolved.)

4) And I have been told that if Al Lavender does get onto the Newburyport City Council this upcoming term, that would make 10 years, and the city of Newburyport would be paying Mr. Lavender’s health care benefits, yup, as I understand it, for the rest of his life.

This is not an individual who I would like to represent me on the Newburyport City Council.

As a very conservative friend of mine said, “Al makes everyone else look brilliant.”

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Real Estate and The Bottom Line

Someone playing “devil’s advocate” (this works for me) said that they thought there would be very little difference between Mr. Karp owning much of downtown Newburyport, MA and someone like David Hall who also owns a great deal of property in our small New England city.

For me, the difference would be vast.

David Hall is “on the ground” and “walking among us.” (Please press here to read earlier entry on David Hall).

Mr. Hall has done incredible things for our community, like raising the money and being the chair-person to see that the skateboard park (which is really amazing) at the Nock Middle School got built. This is a huge accomplishment.

Mr. Hall did this by contacting and connecting with “all and everyone” in the community to raise money to get this remarkable project completed.

And that’s just one of the many things that he has done and is doing for our community. David Hall’s involvement with the Rail Trail, a long and lengthy process, would be another amazing example.

And David Hall was also one of the first if not the first to go solar and green. And it must be to his total delight that finally “going green” has become popular, if not just downright “politically correct.” This is a man way ahead of his time.

And David Hall is physically part of the community. He is part of our “everyday trivial” lives (please see previous post). He and his family can be found at the pharmacy, doing errands around town, at the checkout line at the local supermarket. He is enmeshed in our community, our neighborhood, our town and our lives.

When the Lagasses owned much of downtown, I think people had a trust level, because they were/are one of us. And the fact that they are on the ground leasing the retail properties owned by Mr. Karp and New England Development (NED) is a relief.

However, a huge corporate entity owns so much of where we exist. (Please press here to see NED’s website). And I think that is what is so unsettling to me and to so many folks in Newburyport, MA.

Looking at NED’s website, Newburyport is just one of many projects. And yes, to reiterate, Mr. Karp may indeed be a “benevolent” landlord, but the bottom line is making money. (And that is his right, he bought all that property.)

But that is very different for me, than the bottom line being “what is best for the community on all socio-economic levels.”

I know that David Hall knows the folks in Newburyport, MA, and it is not all about the bottom line of “making money.” That there are many times, that no one knows about, that Mr. Hall has committed random acts of kindness and empathy, because, in my experience, that is who is he is. And he is viscerally connected to the community of Newburyport, MA in a way that Mr. Karp, unless he moves to Newburyport, MA (which I would imagine be unlikely) could never, ever be.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

(Editor’s note: Here are two related and very helpful links for the Newburyport Rail Trail. The Coastal Trail Coalition and The Essex National Heritage Commission.)

Backyard and the Drought Thing

I thought the “drought” thing was over. But no, apparently it’s not.

I figured the rain we just had took care of everything and no more watering for moi. Whew.

But I looked out my window late yesterday afternoon as I was cooking, and the green stuff out there, like the shrubs, looked like they were all wilty and parched looking again.

So I said, “Wait a minute,” to the broccoli that I was cooking and I ran outside to take a look.

Sure enough my back yard is crunchy and like the Sahara one more time. And if shrubs could wail, they would wail, “Could you please get out the darn hose and give us a good long drink. We are literally die’n here.”

Ok, so I’m listening to my darn shrubs do the “shrub wail” thing.

Since it had gotten “chilly” lately, I figured the water would be freezing. But it wasn’t. The water to water the shrubs and stuff was actually warm.

I guess this could tell me something, but I’m not sure exactly what.

So it turned out to be Ok to stand out there and water the stuff with the warm water coming out of the hose and with the sun going down and the late afternoon to evening becoming cool to chilly.

And my self-sustaining pets (see earlier entries), “my” finches, I don’t think any of them showed up yesterday. And only a couple of them showed up two days ago. I think it’s getting to be that time when all of a sudden they disappear, like to fly south.

Bye-bye self-sustaining pets.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Rain and Drought and Green Stuff

Who knew that I would love the rain so much.

I would water my yard, helping out the Newburyport Water Department marvelously during our “drought” and the “stuff” back there would perk up a little bit, but basically, no matter what I did, things looked “wilty” and “parched.”

My grey/green lawn turned brown and proceeded to become dust.

My green “lawn” turned grey/green except for a small piece around my dwelling that retained a kelly green color. (What this says about my dwelling, I’m not entirely sure.)

In the middle of our drought, when not a lawn mower could be heard, I actually got out my lawnmower and mowed my green morsel of grass.

(I wanted to go up to my neighbors and assure them that no, I was not abusing water restrictions by wildly watering my lawn. I just had this odd green scrap.)

And my finch feeders were swarming with finches still.

I think some of them were “baby finches.” A) Because there were so many. And B) because they were smaller and thinner than the other finches.

They also flew funny.

As I’ve watched “my” finches over the years, I’ve found that they have a wonderful long-wave flight. These poor little finches looked like little fluttery helicopters that might crash at any moment. I think that’s a give-away.

Ah, but there is nothing quite like the cooperation of Mother Nature. All that green stuff began to look perky and relieved. And the brown lawn is starting to actually turn green again. And I might be able to mow my lawn now without resident “drought guilt.”

I’d rather mow than water, or not water and worry.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

(Editor’s Note: The Primary to vote for Mayor of Newburyport, MA is this Tuesday, September 18, 2007. Don’t forget to VOTE.)

Statistics and Frogs on the Newburyport Blog

I’m obsessed with my “stats” (statistics for the Newburyport Blog). “Statistic obsession” apparently is “de rigueur” or at least “pretty normal” apparently with other bloggers.

(I find this weirdly comforting.)

I know a whole lot of people read the Newburyport Blog. That I get. And I know a whole lot of folks find the Newburyport Blog (mainly, apparently, through Google). I keep asking myself, self, “Who are these people who read the Newburyport Blog??”

Looking at the “key words” that people are searching for gives me some idea of who might be out there in Web Land.

Here’s an example:

1) “Property owners rights against frog ponds,” from a computer somewhere in Mattoon, Illinois.

And here’s another example:

2) “Neighborhood petition to save frog pond,” from a computer somewhere in, Willimantic, Connecticut.

(There was also someone searching for “frog panties,” but we just won’t go there.)

So, “ha,” to those of you who tell me you don’t read any postings that contain images of frogs (or “stuffed animals”) in them. The Newburyport Blog is, apparently, giving great comfort both to folks who want to get rid of “frog ponds” (George and the other frogs obviously think the searcher in Mattoon, Illinois is “frog phobic”), as well as great comfort to people wanting to save “frog ponds.”

Obviously this is not entirely true.

I can’t imagine what whoever it is, must think, when they are desperately trying either to get rid of a real live frog pond or save a real, live frog pond and they get George. Good grief.

Well, either they roll their eyes, and Web Land on. Or maybe the vague possibility, like some readers, who find the Newburyport Blog on a fluke, find themselves being on the “verge of,” or “admitting to” actually having crossed over to “Newburyport Blog addiction.”

For self acclaimed Newburyport Blog addicts everywhere, I thank you, and I am deeply appreciative if not downright touched. And to the people looking to get rid of frog ponds, or save frog ponds, some other blog/venue will just have to suffice.

(And in all seriousness, for the folks in the Midwest, and I do not know if that includes Mattoon, Illinois or not, our hearts go out to all the people who live in the places that have been so damaged by the most recent floods.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport