Essex backs grant bids for causeway flooding and Chebacco Lake

Essex selectmen on Monday backed two grant applications aimed at long running problems: flooding on the Essex Causeway and algae in Chebacco Lake.

Causeway flooding

The board voted to support a federal PROTECT grant application for the causeway. The state Department of Transportation will be the lead applicant, with Essex as co-applicant.

Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki said the town prepared an application in 2025, but the federal program was paused days before it was due. It has since come back with new rules. MassDOT's consultant, VHB, is helping rework the application.

The grant could be worth more than $2 million. Zubricki said it would build on earlier regional planning work and a study now wrapping up, and would move toward choosing a preferred fix and designing it. Money to build the fix would have to come later.

The town would put in about $21,000, which Zubricki said could come from the town's coastal resilience fund. The selectmen will make the final choice of a preferred plan.

The vote lets the chairman sign the application and a letter of support between meetings, since the deadline falls before the board meets again.

Chebacco Lake

The board also agreed to sponsor a state 604(b) water quality grant for the Chebacco Lake and Watershed Association and voted to send a letter of support. A town has to be the applicant, but Zubricki said the association will do the work.

A representative of the association said the project would use recent data on septic systems around the lake to cut the phosphorus that feeds algae. He said there was no cyanobacteria bloom this year, but there were blooms in the previous three or four years that closed the lake for weeks.

A separate license letting the association use the Centennial Grove cottage was held to Oct. 5 because the association had not yet signed it.

Bridges and buildings

• The board approved a contract with Weston & Sampson for an engineered load rating of the Landing Road bridge. Selectmen said the bridge carries town equipment going for fuel and the trucks that haul trash and recycling. The study costs a little over $30,000 of the $60,000 set aside for work on three town bridges. The Board of Public Works will pick a second project for the rest.
• The board approved a change order of up to $3,000 to paint new trim on the Public Safety Building. The siding job is nearly done. Zubricki said the original contract did not include painting, and the town gets a credit for trim that did not need replacing.

Conomo Point

Acting as Conomo Point commissioners, the selectmen approved John True's request to move the lease line between 111 and 109 Conomo Point Road, which he leases. The family asked to return to a straight line that was in place for decades before 2015. Now one house has only about 9 feet of street frontage. The change would give each about 50 feet. The family agreed on the record that the lease payments will not change. Zubricki will set the exact line in the field.

The board also ratified a building permit to replace wooden support columns with steel at 120 Conomo Point Road.

Other business

• The board appointed Craig Cole, Todd Rogers and Joseph McGillicuddy as probationary firefighter EMTs through June 30, 2027.
• The board approved an agreement with the Essex Police Association on the use of compensatory time off.
• The board ratified an agreement for Manchester to provide senior transportation for Essex. Members said it costs less than hiring a private company.
• The board ratified a Community Preservation Committee contract with Artfluence to promote preservation projects on the town website and social media.
• The board signed the warrant for the Nov. 3 state election.
• The board approved several one-day liquor and entertainment licenses for the Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum, including a rain date of Oct. 10 for an event first set for Sept. 26.
• The board picked its Volunteer of the Year and Employee of the Year. Names were not announced.
• Selectmen agreed with most of a Massachusetts Municipal Association legislative alert on state bond and energy bills. Zubricki will write to state legislators.
• Talk of a town social media policy was put off.

Government Study Committee

Zubricki said the town moderator has agreed to appoint members of the new Government Study Committee. Five people have come forward so far. Chairman Ann Cameron said she is reaching out to people on her own list and asking them to apply. Names are being accepted through Oct. 13.

Property inspections

Zubricki read the Board of Assessors' answers to questions from the last meeting. Field inspections begin Oct. 2 under a 10-year cycle meant to reach every property. Not every property will be visited this round. The data collector will carry identification, and police have been told about the program.

Coming up

The Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce's downtown Essex visioning meeting was set for Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. (Read what residents said at the forum.) The T.O.H.P. Burnham Library will hold a ribbon cutting for its new patio and garden Saturday, Oct. 3, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The selectmen meet next Monday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium, 30 Martin St.