Lupoli bullish on Lowell

FRESH OFF the October grand opening of the $30 million Thorndike Exchange residential project, developer Sal Lupoli is now focusing his sights on the Hamilton Canal Innovation District.

Lupoli, a Chelmsford resident whose business is based in Lawrence, met with top city planning and development officials last Monday afternoon to discuss what he’d like to build on several parcels inside largely untapped patchwork of properties bounded by Jackson Street, the Lord Overpass and Dutton Street.

Lupoli hopes to build two structures that would house a mix of condominiums, apartments, and commercial enterprises. Plus a parking garage. If successful, the mega-development could top $100 million.

“This could truly change Lowell while providing substantial economic impact to the city and the region,” said Lupoli. “It could also change the way other developers view doing business in the city.”

With the $220 million judicial center preparing to open, and with September’s news that Wynn Development will construct a 125-unit, $50 million mixed used development in the district, 2020 could very exciting.

A top city official who requested anonymity said City Hall is very excited about Lupoli’s vision.

“Just look at the Thorndike Exchange project,” the city official said. “It’s a beautiful project on a major gateway into the city.”

Lupoli also had nothing but praise for City Manager Eileen Donoghue and the Division of Planning and Development, saying the meeting was both productive and informative.

FOUR NEW members of the board of directors were elected at the Lowell TeleMedia Center (LTC) annual meeting and party on Nov. 21.

Sue Kim, Elizabeth Noel, Luz Vasudevan, and Jennifer Aradhya all represent various organizations and communities that are active members of LTC: Kim, UMass Lowell; Noel, Middlesex Community College; Vasudevan, Latinx Community Center for Empowerment; and Aradhya, Greater Lowell Community Foundation.

Four additional board members will be appointed by the City Council and the city manager, bringing the total number on the board to 17.

At the meeting, board President Michael Reid and Treasurer Brendan Flynn delivered reports on LTC activities and the sound fiscal condition of the organization.

Executive Director Wendy Blom congratulated the members for LTC’s award for Overall Excellence from the Alliance for Community Media Northeast Region.

Blom noted that across the country local newspapers are closing, leaving communities without reliable coverage of their government, schools, and important local events and issues. Lowell is fortunate that it has two papers, the Lowell Sun and Khmer Post USA, and that LTC also provides valuable coverage with its member-produced programs, live city meeting coverage, and the bi-weekly news magazine show, “LTC News.”

Lowell City Councilor Vesna Nuon commended the LTC producers for their work on programs that express their opinions about local affairs.

YOU DON’T give away $210 million (or more) without conditions. The Massachusetts School Building Authority committed the funding to the Lowell High School project in April, but has held reimbursements contingent upon the city obtaining full ownership and exclusive use of the site.

With a stroke of the pen from Gov. Charlie Baker Tuesday, the conditions were met. The months in-between were a slow grind of procedural steps, capped with a dramatic crunch-time push.

That final rally came amid a night of blockbuster legislation earlier this month. Legislators had already passed a ban on handheld devices for drivers. An education bill infusing $1.5 billion into the state’s schools was still yet to come.

It was nearing midnight and the Lowell delegation needed to turn legislators’ attention from statewide reform to a much more local goal.

Moving the pedestrian footbridges, or “tube,” that connects the Lowell High School buildings on either side of Lucy Larcom Park even just a few feet requires a home-rule petition. The Lowell High School project calls for just such a move, making the passage of this petition a necessary step to receiving MSBA reimbursement. City Manager Eileen Donoghue said the detailed design phase of the high school is well underway and the bills are already stacking up, leaving the city to temporarily foot the entire bill.

“The bills come in each month,” she said. “If you go on a recess for a couple of months, which is typically what happens at this time of year, our bills aren’t going to stop.”

With winter recess just hours away, the delegation feared the next chance to get a roll call vote to pass this home rule petition might not be until January.

“It went right to the 11th hour,” Rep. David Nangle said.

State Reps. Rady Mom, Thomas Golden and Nangle were trying to gather support in the House. Sen. Edward Kennedy was working toward the same goal in the Senate.

“At 10 ’o’clock on Wednesday night, the (home-rule petition) was … on the House side and it wasn’t looking too good,” Kennedy said.

Just two hours later, fortunes turned.

“But by 12:02 it had passed both houses by unanimous roll call,” Kennedy said. “And it gave me firsthand appreciation for the longevity of the state reps we have over on the House side.”

The effort was “all hands on deck” and one that is hard to achieve in the “dead of night,” said Donoghue, a former state senator who is no stranger to the process.

“This is a very big thing for us to be able to access the 80 percent reimbursement from the MSBA, so thank you very much,” she said.

AND NOW for a day of rest.

The City Council unanimously supported a motion to give Assistant City Auditor Karen O’Beirne a day off as a thank you for almost six months of filling in as the interim City Auditor. Councilors appointed her this summer after considering bringing in an outside interim — specifically former Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy — upon the belief that no one in the city’s office was interested.

“She’s a credit to her office and her city,” City Councilor Rita Mercier said.

The gesture comes at the end of another lengthy process to find a city auditor. After three rounds of applications and two rounds of interviews, the council voted 6-2 to appoint Tina Masiello, a certified public accountant and accounting manager for University of Massachusetts Medical School. Unlike a previous candidate offered the job, she accepted.

On Tuesday, City Council finalized the appointment and set her salary at  $106,225. This is about on par with former City Auditor Bryan Perry, who was making $105,918 when he left for a post in Wilmington in June. The posting for the position offered between $100,000 and $113,000.

DRACUT SELECTMEN Tami Dristiliaris and Alison Hughes seem to be at odds lately.

The two didn’t agree on much at the board’s latest meeting Tuesday during discussions around finding a replacement for former Town Manager Jim Duggan. In a slightly tense exchange, Hughes and Dristiliaris disagreed on whether candidates for the position should be required to have more education than a bachelor’s degree, with Dristiliaris advocating for applicants to have a higher level of education.

Later, when the board discussed setting Interim Town Manager Ann Vandal’s salary at $175,000, Dristiliaris objected, saying that it’s too much money and the town needs to be fiscally responsible. When Hughes seconded the motion, Dristiliaris interjected, “Oh, of course you do.”

More friction emerged when Dristiliaris brought up the screening committee selectmen will appoint to narrow down applicants for the position. The board members were originally expected to announce their picks for the committee Tuesday, but Chairman Jesse Forcier said they’ll now have until the December meeting to decide.

Hughes said she hadn’t yet selected her appointee.

“Why is it so hard?” Dristiliaris asked.

“Because I’d like to interview the people that are going to represent me,” Hughes replied. ” … And I’m choosing between a few. Not that it’s any of your concern at this moment.”

“It is my concern, Alison,” Dristiliaris said. “I’m on the board and I’d just like to know who the committee is, that’s all.”

Perhaps the most tense moment came after public session had ended. As a Sun reporter was leaving the meeting, Dristiliaris could be heard saying, “Blow it out your you-know-what, Alison.” And then, “I can’t stand her.”

IN D.C., Rep. Lori Trahan is trying to maintain some momentum regarding her attempt to save 41 minor leagues and Lowell Spinners … but things are getting a little ugly.

The U.S. Rep, along with David McKinley (R-WV), is expected to announce the official formation of the bipartisan Save Minor League Baseball Task Force at a press event Tuesday night at the Longworth House Office following the first meeting of the group. At the meeting, interested members will hear from Minor League Baseball (MiLB) President Pat O’Conner, and several other team owners, about maintaining minor league baseball across the country after the MLB announced earlier this month it would potentially eliminate 42 minor league teams during this year’s Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA) negotiations, Trahan’s camp wrote in a press invite.

The event comes just a week after Trahan, McKinley and 104 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter urging the MLB to abandon its plan to eliminate 42 Minor League teams and the MLB’s proposal to disband short-season leagues like the New York-Penn League. The proposal would shrink the number of affiliated minor league teams by 25 percent and could have cultural and economic impacts to communities, Trahan previously told The Sun.

The MLB, however, responded to the Congressional letter and said it would continue to re-negotiate its PBA with minor league owners that have not upgraded their ballparks to “adequate standards” — not backing down from its proposal to eliminate minor league teams that play from the Northeast to Rocky Mountain region.

“We were disappointed by Commissioner Rob Manfred’s dismissive tone toward ongoing negotiations surrounding the future of Minor League Baseball,” Trahan and McKinley said in joint statement after MLB announced it was not backing down from its initial proposal. “When we lead our bipartisan call with 104 of our colleagues expressing concern with the MLB’s plans to eliminate as many as 42 affiliated teams, we did so on behalf of communities that stand to lose out on the deal – not as a public relations ploy.”