Rockport Select Board approves Christmas in Rockport dates, four public works contracts and a shared lawyer for Comcast talks

Rockport's Select Board set the dates for this year's Christmas in Rockport events, awarded four on call public works contracts and agreed to share a lawyer with Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea for the next round of cable license talks with Comcast at its Oct. 6 meeting on Zoom. Every vote was 4 to 0, with four of the five members present.

What happened

• Horse drawn carriage rides will run downtown on Dec. 6 and Dec. 12, and Harvey Park will host winter games and decorations on five weekends from Nov. 28 to Dec. 27.
• Tom Flaherty was reappointed to the Rights of Way Committee and Margot Hintlian, a certified public accountant, was appointed to the Finance Committee, both for terms ending June 30, 2029.
• The board approved four on call contracts for the Department of Public Works, including catch basin cleaning for $39,846 and a sewer pipe lining contract with an award amount of $250,000.
• KP Law will represent Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea together in negotiations for a new 10 year cable license with Comcast.
• Town Clerk Melanie J. Waddell said early voting for the Nov. 3 state election runs through Oct. 30 and that the ballot comes on two cards this year.

Voting before Nov. 3

The clerk told the board the town mailed 1,800 vote by mail ballots on Oct. 1 and had sent about 2,000 by the night of the meeting. Because nine questions are on the state ballot, each voter gets two ballot cards. Voters who mail or drop off a ballot must return both cards, she said.

Early voting at the town clerk's office began Saturday, Oct. 17 and runs through Friday, Oct. 30, with reduced hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. most days in the first week and full business hours from Oct. 26 to 30. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 24. Large print information booklets are at the library, the Council on Aging and Town Hall, and an audio version is on the elections page of the town website. The clerk said turnout in the primary was about 44 percent and she expects November to beat it.

Two appointments

Flaherty, a Rockport resident since 2008 who joined the Rights of Way Committee in 2023, asked for a second term. Vice Chair Don Southard, the board's liaison to the committee, said he supported the reappointment.

Hintlian told the board she was first appointed to the Finance Committee a year ago and resigned soon after when she learned the town had hired the accounting firm she worked for to audit the town. She said she left that firm in May, so there is no longer a conflict. The board appointed her to the open seat.

Christmas in Rockport

The organizer said the group wants to build on last year, with decorations and a fire pit at Harvey Park and a second day of horse drawn carriage rides on Bearskin Neck. Lights planned for the park were dropped because of electrical problems there.

The board's approval covers carriage rides downtown on Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 with no rain dates and a loading zone and route set by the police chief; winter games, events and decorations that do not need electricity in Harvey Park on Nov. 28 and 29, Dec. 4 to 6, Dec. 12 and 13, Dec. 19 and 20 and Dec. 26 and 27, with the park cleared by 4 p.m. on Dec. 29; a controlled fire pit in one spot chosen by the fire chief; food trucks in parking zones approved by the police chief; and low volume holiday music or carolers, but not both at once. The police and fire chiefs can stop any of it for public safety.

Other permits and approvals

• The Rockport Art Association & Museum received a one day alcohol license for its gala and awards reception on Friday, Nov. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m., the night before its seventh annual national juried exhibition opens. The association's executive director said the $100 a ticket fundraiser includes more than $26,000 in prizes and awards.
• A leaseholder on Long Beach may tear down and rebuild a 34 foot long, 2 foot high retaining wall between two homes, subject to Conservation Commission approval and the town's Long Beach rules. The wall dates to the 1950s or 1960s and has been leaning, the leaseholder said. The town owns the land.
• The board approved the warrant for the Nov. 3 state election and the consent agenda, which included two Long Beach family lease transfers, one Long Beach sale and a donation to the town's housing trust from the former Rockport Housing Partnership.
• A 2006 Ford cargo van the schools used to carry food between the high school kitchen and the elementary school was declared surplus and will be scrapped. Town Administrator Mitchell Vieira said the van is rusted out and mechanics said it is unsafe to drive.

Four public works contracts

DPW Director Aaron Cilluffo presented four on call contracts, each put out to bid. On call means the town pays only for work it orders, at the bid prices.

• Construction equipment and services, for jobs such as water main and drainage work, including emergencies, awarded to the two top bidders. The bid used an estimated $500,000 of work in the first year. Cilluffo said the town may not use that much.
• Camera inspection and jet vac cleaning of sewer and drain pipes, awarded to three contractors so the town can pick the most cost effective one for each job.
• Catch basin cleaning, awarded to the lowest bidder, BMC Corp., for $39,846. Cilluffo said the town has about 800 catch basins.
• Sewer pipe lining and manhole repair, awarded to National Water Main for one year. Cilluffo said the full bid came to just over $1 million, the estimated first year work was $150,000 and the contract award amount is $250,000. If work goes past that, the contractor must update its bond and insurance and the contract comes back to the board.

Comcast talks

Vieira said Rockport has handled its last three Comcast license renewals as a region with Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Essex, which share one public access television provider. KP Law represents the three towns and needs each one's permission to represent them together. Gloucester uses its own lawyer. Each town signs its own license, he said; the towns only bargain as a group. Cable licenses run 10 years. The board approved the joint representation agreement. Vieira said a public survey of cable needs, called an ascertainment, is coming and that any changes are months away.

Town Hall, the fire and other updates

Vieira said the Town Hall renovation design was 95 percent done at Town Meeting and the last 5 percent is in progress. The board will be asked to pick paint colors and flooring in the next few weeks, and a bid package will follow. All public facing departments will move to the Town Hall Annex during the work; the move date will be announced later. Fall Town Meeting on Sept. 14 approved $1.8 million more in borrowing for the project; see Rockport's $41.6 million budget, line by line.

Chair Paul F. Murphy thanked the fire department, police, DPW and town staff for their work at the Sept. 20 fire on Broadway, which he called the largest fire in Rockport since a 1982 church fire. Vieira said the building inspector has issued a demolition order for the building. Earlier coverage: Ten days after Rockport fire, no official word on the Broadway building or displaced families (Sept. 30).

Other updates: a Mental Health First Aid course for people who work with older adults drew 19 participants, and a course for town employees is planned; more than 80 people came to one of three trainings on the open meeting law, public records and conflict of interest; and Southard said the Rockport Housing Authority board is down to three members and needs two more. The clerk said 200 voters attended Fall Town Meeting. The next annual Town Meeting is the first Saturday of April 2027.

Public comment

A resident asked the board to report on a youth center building behind the train station, which he said operates under a town license, and whether it is meeting the license terms. He also said the board should announce open seats on town boards at every meeting. Board members did not respond; the chair said at the start of the meeting that the board does not answer questions during public comment.

A member of the Rights of Way Committee asked the town to put the ramp back on the Saratoga Creek bridge off South Street until Dec. 1, as in past years, because it is the main way to reach Long Beach until parking opens on the Long Beach side that day.

What was decided

• Tom Flaherty reappointed to the Rights of Way Committee, term to June 30, 2029: 4 to 0.
• Margot Hintlian appointed to the Finance Committee, term to June 30, 2029: 4 to 0.
• Consent agenda (minutes, Long Beach transfers and sale, housing trust donation): 4 to 0.
• Christmas in Rockport events and dates: 4 to 0.
• One day alcohol license, Rockport Art Association & Museum gala, Nov. 13: 4 to 0.
• Long Beach retaining wall, subject to Conservation Commission approval: 4 to 0.
• Nov. 3 state election warrant: 4 to 0.
• Four DPW on call contracts: 4 to 0 each.
• 2006 Ford cargo van declared surplus for scrap: 4 to 0.
• KP Law joint representation for Comcast cable negotiations: 4 to 0.

What happens next

• Oct. 24: last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 state election.
• Through Oct. 30: early voting at the town clerk's office, 34 Broadway.
• Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m.: the Select Board meets again on Zoom. The agenda is on the town website.
• Town Hall paint, flooring and the move to the annex come back to the board in the coming weeks.
• The Long Beach wall goes to the Conservation Commission before work starts.

Where to find the records

• Oct. 6 agenda on the town website.
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording.
• Select Board page, with members and minutes once they are approved.
• Oct. 20 agenda for the next meeting.

Earlier coverage: Rockport Select Board to weigh Christmas in Rockport plans and a joint lawyer for Comcast talks Tuesday (Oct. 5), the preview of this meeting.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked item names against the agenda. Votes are as heard on the recording; the board's minutes will carry the official record. These are our meeting notes, not the board's minutes.