Stop & Shop wants to build a new gas station

The Stop & Shop on Howley Street is looking to build a new 4-pump gas station with convenience items in the front of its parking lot.

The Lynn Item: Peabody Stop & Shop eyes gas station addition

The store is selling this as a great way to help solidify its base of shoppers by providing services they need... and offering a discount to them as well. It will be a strictly self-service location with no repair facilities.

Of course, new gas stations require new gas tanks - a total of 40,000 gallons of fuel will be stored on the site.

The store says that 52 parking spaces will be lost... but this is really NOT a worry for this location. I have NEVER been in this store when it was even close to crowded, and that includes the Holiday Rush(es). The only exception was during one late afternoon blizzard which iced over Howley Street leaving NO WAY to leave! Both directions were practically impassable until the City plows arrived (difficult due to the traffic conundrum on Lowell St).So my feeling is this has little to do with serving the current customers of the store and all about profits for a less-than-successful location. In fact, I wonder if this was not part of the plan all along when you consider the enormous size of their parking lot.

Should the City allow this? Well I wonder about the safety of underground storage tanks in flood prone areas (and no matter what this will always be a flood prone area) BUT the new modern tanks are much safer than the old ones (those are what we really need to worry about.) There are actually very few neighbors to impact here, so that shouldn't be a big problem.

However, I do see an issue or two that I would insist be addressed in the approval granting process here.

1) Stop & Shop needs to contribute both money and land to further fund and create the River Walk project which will eventually need to integrate with its property.

2) Stop & Shop needs to improve the traffic flows through the intersections with Howley Street at both Main and Walnut Streets.

I originally proposed new traffic lights to be coordinated all along Howley (see below) but WGAF made a good case against it... so I softened my proposal.

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However, I do see two issues that I would insist be addressed in the approval granting process here.

1) Stop & Shop needs to pay to install new traffic signals installed at both entrances to the Stop & Shop facility as well as at the intersection of Howley and Walnut... AND all 4 lights (Main & Howley also) need to be synchronized to work well together.

2) Stop & Shop needs to contribute both money and land to further fund and create the River Walk project which will eventually need to integrate with its property.

Budget Woes... but not 'til next year ???

I will admit it. I am as perplexed as everyone else about what to do with our City budget problems.

At first, I thought IF the cut in State aid was going to be a one time thing, then we could enact a small one-time payment from each household (<$50) and keep all the City services going as they are now. But now we find out that this is NOT very likely... and that an even larger cut in State aid is expected next year.

And I am upset because Mayor Bonfanti has decided to hunker down (my words) and not be proactive about the problems that are looming on the horizon. IF cuts are coming and there will need to be changes in the near future I say the time to prepare, plan and then even enact these changes is sooner rather than later.

The Salem News: City could see layoffs in next fiscal year

The solution is not to just leave unfilled positions vacant and to expect departments to continue doing their jobs without adequate supplies and other items or services needed to operate the City.

The solution is to take stock right now and see where cuts need to be made... see where positions need to be filled... and where they need to be lost. To give the departments back the money they need to actually serve the public well and not nickel and dime the City into inaction. The time for these action plans was YESTERDAY... but we still have time to make them right now.

Then the politically difficult (and personally distressing) task of actually making these changes needs to happen... and the sooner the better. If we are going to be losing people next year (for the sake of discussion let's say we will need to cut 40 jobs) then I say DO IT NOW and SAVE THE MONEY in salary and benefits TODAY because the news from the State next year might be even worse than we are all hoping or expecting.

I would rather not see anyone lose their jobs, but unfortunately that will not be the reality here in Peabody or many other places in this country. I have learned the hard way that delaying the inevitable only makes things worse for everyone involved... including the people who will end up being laid off.

The State of the City - January 2009

Lynn Item: Bonfanti gives mid-term address
Salem News: Difficult cash decisions will be in cards for Peabody

I was unable to attend Mayor Bonfanti's mid-term address and the seating of the new City Council last evening. And the text of the speech is NOT (yet?) available on the Mayor's page at the City website. So these comments are based on the newspaper reports and other comments made at those sites and on the Peabody Patriot blog.

First, I think that the overall tone of the message - one of difficult times ahead - is nothing but accurate and a clear thinking assessment of what is to come. I disagree with those people who say he should be emphasizing the positive and downplaying the difficult realities we will all be facing. While "perception equals reality" can be true at times, in these circumstances I would prefer straight talk and not hearts & flowers.

I do not look forward to this coming year (and to be more honest... let's say YEARS because this recession is looking like nothing we have seen in most of our lifetimes). The best estimates for the length of the world-wide financial crisis I have read point to a 18 month (minimum) to 42 month (maximum) time frame... so I am betting on 2-1/2 years of difficult choices and unhappy citizens.

While I would not like to see the schools take the brunt of these cuts (especially not FIRST) I see the reality of the lower enrollments finally coming to a head. We simply have fewer children to educate at this moment, and while I STRONGLY SUPPORT a comprehensive analysis of future demographic trends for Peabody, I believe we are going to see fewer students for the foreseeable future.

Thus the closing of one (or more) schools is both a political reality and a good move for the vast majority of Peabody folks. Of course this will be very hard on some families who might have chosen their home based on proximity to a certain school... and I actually am a huge supporter of neighborhood schools, the times dictate a more cost effective distribution of our limited educational funds. Fewer schools will yield more educational value per pupil and per education dollar.

I strongly agree with the Mayor on the issue of Downtown improvements and the need to repopulate Downtown with businesses... but I believe the most intelligent method for achieving this goal is through the REZONING of Downtown (and the rest of the City) to promote a mixed-use of public, residential and commercial/business in the greater Downtown area.

What are your thoughts?

New Children's Hospital Expansion in Centennial Park

Children's Hospital Boston has announced that they are building a new children's health center in Centennial Park. The facility (part renovation, part addition) will be 120,000 sq.ft and greatly expand the services that are currently offered by Children's Hospital's services currently offered inside the Lahey Clinic Peabody.

Here is the link to the Salem News story.

Overall, this is a wonderful thing for Peabody and the North Shore as a whole. I have heard some people lament that we are losing more prime City property to yet another TAX EXEMPT entity.

Well, that is true. And I think the City should be rather aggressive in establishing a hefty PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement with this well endowed hospital.

The City of Boston received a PILOT Fee of $602,656 last year from Children's Hospital. See this article and PILOT listing from the Jamaica Plain Gazette.

But even if we don't see a large PILOT payment, I still welcome this great addition to the booming medical services arena that Peabody-Salem-Danvers has become.

The Salem News Reports on $1M Grant for Jobs

The Salem News has, yet again, missed an opportunity to highlight good news in Peabody. Maybe they should be called The Salem BAD News???

The article (link here) lists unemployment figures from September 2007 and 2008. And while it is not great to see how many folks have lost their jobs, it is somewhat encouraging to see that Peabody has one of the smallest increases in job loss in the North Shore, and it is MUCH BETTER than the State average.

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Peabody's unemployment rate, while still too high, grew only 0.7% making it the second lowest in the region and lower than the State average or 0.9%

Maybe this isn't GREAT NEWS for someone who has just lost their job, but it is at least a little encouraging for the rest of us.