Meetings today and Thursday: Rockport water and schools, Gloucester budget changes, the Essex school's next community meeting

Cape Ann's boards are busy this week. Here is what is on the agendas for Wednesday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 8. Each meeting is open to the public; follow the link for the full agenda and Zoom details.

Wednesday, Oct. 7

2 p.m., Rockport Ad Hoc Water Committee (Zoom only). Members take up how to square the state's drought level with the town's, water use at Granite Pier, monitoring in the watershed districts, paved and other hard surfaces in watersheds and dye tablets that find leaking toilets. Rockport still bans all outdoor water use. Agenda. Why Rockport banned outdoor watering as the drought eased.

5 p.m., Gloucester School Committee Building & Finance Subcommittee. A report from the schools' finance chief, the state's special education reimbursement for this year, out of district tuition and transportation, a new theater and drama student activity account and last year's activity account balances. Gloucester High School library, and Zoom. Agenda.

6 p.m., Gloucester City Council Planning & Development Committee. Councilors take up a special permit for a building with four to six apartments at Day Court, continued from July, and a National Grid request for about 2 feet of underground conduit on Wheeler Street. A proposal to double the minimum lot size per home in the coastal RC-40 district, to 40,000 square feet, is set to be continued to Oct. 21. City Hall, first floor conference room, and Zoom. Agenda.

7 p.m., Rockport School Committee. The agenda includes the state's 2026 school accountability results, the schedule for releasing MCAS scores, the committee's goals for the year and a look at how last school year ended financially. The committee then goes into a closed session on teachers union negotiations and will not come back into open session. Rockport Public Library, Brenner Room, 17 School St. Agenda.

7 p.m., Essex Planning Board. Members work on new inclusionary housing language for the fall town meeting, hear an introduction to a project at 82 Eastern Ave. that will need site plan review and take up two building inspector requests on Robbins Island Road and Coral Hill. Town Hall, second floor stage room, and Zoom. Agenda.

Also Wednesday in Rockport: the Conservation Commission at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom, the Board of Fire Engineers at 6:30 p.m. at Central Station and the Millbrook Meadow Committee at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall Annex. The joint meeting of the Essex selectmen and Finance Committee set for Wednesday was cancelled.

Thursday, Oct. 8

9:30 a.m., state Drought Management Task Force. The state's last declaration, on Sept. 10, put the Northeast region, including Cape Ann, at Level 1, a mild drought.

5:30 p.m., Gloucester City Council Budget & Finance Committee. Among the items: donations for the archives, veterans services and elder services, two police grants, a $12,000 request for part of the city's wayfinding signs and a proposal to end the rule that fee changes be published in a local newspaper. City Hall, first floor conference room, and Zoom. Read our guide to the committee and search everything it handled this year.

6 to 8 p.m., Essex School Building Committee community meeting. The committee gives a design update, a schedule overview, a review of how construction would be phased around students and a budget update for the new Essex Elementary School. The Essex selectmen and Finance Committee have posted that they will attend. Essex Elementary School cafeteria, 12 Story St., and Zoom. Agenda. Read how the $95 million plan compares with other new schools.

6 p.m., Manchester Historic District Commission. Manchester Marine Corp. asks for a ruling that its plan for a new 160 by 50 foot structure at 11 and 13 Ashland Ave. does not need the commission's approval. Members also discuss a workshop on historic preservation and a demolition delay bylaw, and a proposed sign bylaw. Town Hall, Room 7, and Zoom. Agenda.

7 p.m., Gloucester Zoning Board of Appeals. The board continues its hearing on a request to turn 36 Whittemore St. into an indoor pickleball court complex, with a change of use and fewer off street parking spaces than the zoning requires. It also hears four homeowner additions and reviews its rules and fees for Chapter 40B affordable housing permits. Kyrouz Auditorium, City Hall, and Zoom. Agenda.

Also Thursday: Manchester's Board of Health at 8:30 a.m. in Town Hall, Room 7, and on Zoom, the Rockport Housing Authority at 5 p.m. at 13 Millbrook Park and the Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals at 6 p.m. on Zoom.

Earlier coverage: Meetings this week on Cape Ann (Oct. 1), the week's preview.