Gloucester trims first-week early voting hours, protects two historic homes

Early voting at Gloucester City Hall will run shorter hours in its first week this fall after the City Council voted 6 to 1 on Sept. 22 to grant the city clerk's request.

State law lets a city council cut first-week early voting hours by up to half before a state election. City Clerk Grace Poirier said her office asks for the cut every state election so staff can keep up with mail ballots. Each one takes 12 manual steps from application to tabulation, she said, and the office has already entered close to 4,000 applications for the Nov. 3 election.

The first-week hours, Oct. 19 to 23, will be:

• Monday, Oct. 19, through Wednesday, Oct. 21: 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 22: 12:30 to 6 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 23: 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

The second week and both Saturdays are not affected. Saturday hours cannot be reduced, Poirier said.

These are the hours in the clerk's request to the council. A city notice posted Sept. 30 lists slightly different hours for Oct. 22 and Oct. 23; see our early voting story for the full schedule.

One councilor voted no, saying they were not comfortable reducing any hours to vote even while understanding the office's staffing strain. Councilor Patti-Ann Page supported the request, saying the clerk's workload has grown beyond what the office can keep up with.

Poirier urged mail voters to return ballots early, since mail is no longer sorted locally and can be delayed, and to sign the affidavit envelope inside. An unsigned envelope means the ballot must be rejected. Voters can also use the drop box outside City Hall.

Two historic homes protected

The council approved permanent preservation restrictions, held by Historic New England, on two historic properties. Both votes were 7 to 0.

One covers part of the William and Mary Haskell House at 11 Lincoln Street, a 17th century house that is privately owned and on the market. A Historic New England representative said the restriction needed to be recorded before a sale closes.

The other covers the Temple-Hayden Cottage and barn on Eastern Point Boulevard, next to Historic New England's Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House museum. Historic New England, which owns the cottage, plans to sell it back into private ownership. That restriction protects the exterior and allows interior updates for modern living, the representative said.

Asked by Page, she said the Haskell House will stay on the city's tax rolls, and she said the cottage will return to the tax base once it is sold.

Trash rules updated for new program

The council approved changes to the city's trash ordinance to match the new trash and recycling program that begins Oct. 1. General Counsel Suzanne Egan called them mainly administrative. At Page's request, the council corrected one section so the rule applies to owners of buildings with five or more residential units, as intended, rather than four.

Egan said the rule requiring residents to take their bins back in from the curb after pickup has not changed.

Page repeated her objection to charging the program fee for units whose owners do not use the service. "I'm just putting on the record. I have a hard time with that," she said. The fees themselves were approved at the council's Sept. 8 meeting.

Councilor Scott Memhard said the new carts are bigger and sturdier than he expected. Councilor Marjorie Grace reminded residents that the carts go into use Thursday, Oct. 1, so trash pickup Monday through Wednesday of that week stays the same, and households with later pickup days still have time to receive their carts.

Other business

• The council appointed Philip Schwarz, who co-leads a Sunday morning hike series on city trails, to the Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee for a term ending Feb. 15, 2027. The vote was 7 to 0.
• It approved paying a $51,317.23 prior year invoice for the schools with this year's funds. School CFO Cody Marshall said it came from a union grievance settled in arbitration, related to work during the strike almost two years ago, and he does not expect more.
• It approved paying $440.94 in police invoices for marine equipment and accepted a $42,528.96 state 911 emergency medical dispatch grant for the Police Department. No local match is required.
• It approved a National Grid petition for a new pole on Bellevue Avenue near 17 Conant Avenue, with conditions from the Department of Public Works.
• It accepted the withdrawal, without prejudice, of a special permit application by 187 Atlantic Ave Holdings LLC to move more than 1,000 cubic yards of soil at 185 Atlantic Street. The applicant may return later, Councilor Dylan Benson said.
• A $12,000 request to install part of the downtown wayfinding signs project was sent to the Budget and Finance Committee.
• During public comment, a Mount Pleasant Avenue resident asked the city to place the whole playground and former East Gloucester Elementary School site on Davis Street Extension under a permanent deed restriction.
• Grace asked the mayor to notify ward councilors from the start about large projects planned in their wards.

Councilors Jason Grow and Sean Nolan were absent. The council's next regular meeting is Oct. 13.